The Amazing Avenger
by joeperrysbabe
Summary: My little version of how young Peter Parker is approached by SHIELD and asked to join the Avengers. The team takes him in under their wing and even a certain Norse God, fresh from his prison stint on Asgard takes a kinship with the human arachnid. But soon Earth is once again threatened by the Chitauri, along with Thanos. Rated K for now, but T for later chapters. Coulson returns.
1. Chapter 1

The Amazing Avenger.

_Summary: My little version of how young Peter Parker is approached by SHIELD and asked to join the Avengers. Tony Stark heads the welcoming committee as he moves Peter in his tower and introduces him to all the heroes, who immediately take it upon themselves to watch over the young one as he takes on his new responsibilities. But a new threat is looming and a certain Norse God fresh from his prison stint on Asgard begins to take an interest in the human-arachnid himself. But when the Chitauri, this time along with Thanos, once again invade Earth to finish what they started, Peter must gather all his wits and courage and join his new teammates in facing their biggest threat yet. _

Notes: My second story, and this time a longer one. Just watched "The Amazing Spiderman" and have been bitten by the writing bug. I really dig Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker/Spiderman and want to see him as an Avenger. I love Loki, so he is in this as well, still a bad guy of course, but along the way, who knows? ;) Oh, and I have also resurrected Phil Coulson because, well, Coulson is awesome. J Any other changes or pairings I decide to throw together I will let you know as I go on, though I am open to suggestions as well.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters. For entertainment purposes only.

Now on to the story. J

Chapter 1

Peter Parker had just gotten home when his Aunt May called for him from the living room. He flung down his bag and his jacket, took out his headphones and walked in to find his aunt sitting on the couch watching the news on TV.

"Looks like the Avengers tower is all finished." Peter commented as he saw the video being played as skycams circled the huge skyscraper.

"Doesn't even look like it was touched. It's beautiful." Aunt May beamed, and Peter looked down at her lovingly. She was always so easy to please. He also knew she showed great pride in The Avengers, especially after saving their city from the alien race that invaded them two years earlier. Thankfully, they had been away at the time, with Peter looking at colleges in Boston and North Carolina. When the news had published the stories of the superheroes, Peter had followed them immensely, especially Tony Stark AKA: Iron Man. He had heard his name before, but even more now, he was taken more by the billionaire genius.

After the Manhattan incident, the world was in an uproar. With the existence of alien races and other realms now proven, the people of Earth now knew without a doubt that they were indeed not alone. Not only that, now the "normal" people were wondering what to make of the superhuman group that now called themselves the Avengers. While many opened their hearts, there were of course some that were skeptical, or some that just downright rejected them. During the last two years, Peter had hung up his spandex suit and laid low. With Gwen Stacey now away at college in England, his main objective was to just live as normal a life as possible. With this new group of superheroes, who needed Spiderman now?

Aunt May was not convinced, though. After Peter had sat her down and told her everything, she took it much better than he thought she would. "I always knew there was something so special about you." she lovingly told him. As much as Peter prided himself in his new abilities, he knew it was safer for him and his aunt if he stayed off the grid for now, but May also knew her nephew. Spiderman was who Peter was. That was his destiny. She knew as much as Peter tried to say the world didn't need Spiderman, she saw in his eyes every time he watched CNN and read the paper that he yearned to put his suit back on.

"What's for dinner, Aunt May?" Peter asked, going into the kitchen and stealing an apple from a bowl on the counter.

"Pork Roast." she called back, not looking up from what she was knitting. "It'll be ready in an hour."

"Ok. I'm gonna be in my room studying." Peter said, as he passed by his aunt, giving her a kiss on the cheek before heading in his room. He shut the door behind him and went and sat at his desk. As he tried to organize the area, his gaze kept looking in the mirror at his closet door. Then it fell to the news article tacked on the wall next to his desk. The headline reading THE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE TO SAVE CITY FROM ALIEN INVASION.

Peter sighed deeply before he got up and walked over to his closet. He opened it and looked at the Spiderman suit that had been there gathering dust for longer than he could remember. Running a hand along it, he wondered to himself just how much longer he could keep lying to himself. He was not a 'normal' person. Even before he was bitten by the spider, he never was normal at all. His life was meant for more-much more.

His thoughts were interrupted then by a knock on his door. Aunt May poked her head inside and smiled when she saw Peter standing in front of his suit. "Do you think it still fits?" she asked softly, strolling over and standing next to him.

Peter chuckled. "I don't know. It's been so long since I've worn it."

Aunt May examined it further and looked up at her nephew. "Well, you have grown a tad taller, but I think I can make some alterations if need be."

Peter smiled. "I know you would just love to."

Aunt May chuckled then, but she smiled warmly at him before she said, "Whatever path you choose, Peter, I will always stand behind you. No matter what. I love you and am proud of you. Even if you never put this thing on again, you, Peter Parker, will always carry Spiderman here." She said the last words while pointing a finger toward his heart. "Just like where your uncle always carried you."

Peter eyes glistened then. He had memorized every word his Uncle Ben had told him in that message before he died and replayed it in his head every day ever since. Looking down, not wanting Aunt May to see his tears, he asked, "Do you think he would've approved of Spiderman?"

Aunt May looked over the suit. "Well, he never really did like spiders…"

Peter laughed then, taking a couple of swift movements to dry his eyes, but May knew better. She took Peter's face in her hands and looked him in the eye. "but he loved _you_, and that means he would've accepted all that came with you."

Peter smiled then and pulled his aunt in for a hug, a couple thin loose tears coming down but his eyes never leaving the suit.

Phil Coulson sat in the back of a big black SUV for what seemed like ages to him. It had been two whole years since he was even in a suit. It should've felt different, but it was actually like just putting on a second skin. Once he was dressed, he looked himself in the mirror and it was like he had never left this life. He was back in action, and he was ready.

Now here he sat, waiting for whomever was going to come and brief him on his new assignment. SHEILD was always good for making you wait sometimes. Could be minutes, could be hours. They were never reliable for their predictability. Sighing, he sat back and looked out of the crack in the window.

The last two years of his life were like a blur to him. He should be dead right now. He _was_ dead. He could still remember how still everything around him had become as he felt his life leave his mortally wounded body. The next thing he knew, he was lying in a hospital bed in an undisclosed location SHEILD had sent him to. Nick Fury had been there when he woke up. Coulson could remember the look of relief that had swept across Fury's dark features when he asked if he was dead.

"No Phil, you're still alive." Fury answered in an even tone.

"How-?" Coulson began, trying to sit up, but exhaustion overtook him and he fell back down.

"Easy…" Fury said as he held out his hands and eased Coulson back down. "I didn't think we would be able to do it, but we managed to…._resurrect_ you."

Coulson just shook his head repeatedly. "No…no….I was dead. I _felt_ it."

Fury just stared at him closer. "You _were_ dead." That freakin tone.

Coulson was confused, very very confused. But more than anything, he was angry, very very angry. He was supposed to die on that ship. He had accepted that fate. He made peace with it in his final moments, especially when he had fired that shot at the one who killed him. He was finished. Why the hell was he back? Why did he deserve to come back?

He had resented SHIELD from that moment on. It wasn't fair, that he got to live again and no one else did. He knew he couldn't stop Loki, but he sure as hell was not going to go down without fighting. He had fought until inevitably, Loki and his trickery had gotten the best of him. From the moment he felt himself impaled from behind, he had made peace with his death. Now he was to live again. For what?

That question was never answered. When he was healed enough to leave the hospital, he was informed by his superiors that he would be going on a hiatus. For how long? That was never answered, either. He felt betrayed. Like he was being pushed out of what he had given his whole life to. He was told he was still with SHEILD, but he was too compromised to continue and was forced to take a break. He had been with them for countless years and NEVER-repeat NEVER-just "took a break". If he couldn't continue, then why did they bother bringing him back at all? He could have just gone into the ground for this.

So for two years, he lived in the 'normal' world. In society where he was located in a small upper Midwest town and forced to live among everyday people. While he did make a few 'friends', he mainly had kept to himself. The time stretched and stretched and soon he felt as if he would go mad with boredom. He had been given a second life and now he was sent to live in a way he had never before. Being a SHEILD agent was all he really knew.

Soon, he managed to fill his time by taking on activities, hobbies like making small model planes and ships, but mostly spending a lot of his time running, going to the gym, taking up kickboxing, going to martial arts classes. He was going to show them. If he knew SHIELD, he knew they would be watching him. He had never been really out of shape in his past, but as he kept up his physical routine, he felt himself getting stronger. He even was a regular visitor at the gun ranges and he even took on archery, which he had become pretty pristine in. Soon, he looked himself in the mirror and admired with pride just how much he had changed. He was reborn, stronger, quicker, and had a brand new lease on his second life.

If there was anyone to ever thank for helping him get here, it was the group of misfits he had had the privilege of knowing, may it be individually or as a whole. He had played the agent, yes, on a couple of occasions when he had threatened both Thor and Tony Stark with physical authority, but in the end, he had the utmost respect for every single one of them.

But the one who had truly given him the inspiration to take his second chance and use it to his advantage was Steve Rogers. Coulson remembered with a smile just how his stomach had made turbo leaps inside of him when he had the opportunity to meet the legendary Captain America. He had felt like the 10 year old kid he used to be whenever he would be told stories about him. He will never forget how much he had silently berated himself over how stupid he sounded when he asked the Captain if he would sign his vintage trading cards. The Captain was gracious, but Phil still felt so small compared to Rogers larger than life appearance. But it wasn't just his appearance that appealed to the agent so much, but his heart. Of all the Avengers, all of whom he adored, he knew it was Steve Rogers that carried the heart of them.

His memories were interrupted when he saw approaching headlights. He cleared his throat and straightened himself up, straightening his tie and smoothing out his still-crisp suit. He then took a couple of deep breaths before the door on his right side opened and Nick Fury very swiftly made his way inside, sitting in a seat opposite of him. Coulson swallowed as he faced Fury, not because he was afraid, but because he still didn't know how to feel toward him yet. He couldn't decide if he still hated him or not. But hashing out old issues was not the reason he was there. He had an assignment and he was back in. All he wanted was to go back to his life, whatever was left of the life he once had.

"You're looking good these days, Phil." Fury started, his famous tone never escaping him.

Coulson nodded, expressionless. "I feel good these days."

Fury cracked a half smile and opened up a file he was holding. It was time to get down to business. He flipped a few pages until he got to what he was looking for and turned it toward Coulson. Coulson stared at it for a moment before taking it from Fury.

"Peter Parker….or otherwise known as Spiderman." Coulson read out loud. He then looked up at Fury. He remembered the name Peter Parker all too well. SHEILD had been in the shadows watching the web spewing hero in action since he had started. Coulson himself had personally handled the surveillance. He knew young Parker's entire story. Coulson knew it was only a matter of time before SHEILD would want to get their hands on the kid.

"So I guess this means you think he's ready." Coulson said.

"The time has come for him to accept his place with the Avengers, yes." Fury answered.

"and that's why I'm here." Coulson answered for him.

Fury just smiled at him. He never needed to explain anything to Coulson in great detail. Coulson always knew what he needed to do before they had even finished briefing him.

Coulson took a few minutes and examined the file in silence before he closed it and stared at Fury.

"Consider it done."

Fury's expression softened and he nodded at Coulson. The door then opened and Fury moved to exit the SUV, but he stopped and motioned to whomever was outside to give him a minute and took his seat back. He took a deep breath of his own and looked at Coulson.

"If it's any consolation, I was flat out against bringing you back at first. I felt you had died the way you had always wanted to. But I also couldn't risk losing you when you are the best field man I've got, especially at a time I need you the most. If anything had got those boys moving two years ago, it was you. Your faith in them. Now young Parker I'm sure could use some of that faith himself, maybe even more."

Coulson said nothing, but only nodded. Fury smiled once again and then exited the SUV, leaving Coulson to stare down at Peter Parker's file. He sighed deeply and motioned for his driver to take off. His mission was clear; get Peter Parker and enlist him in the Avengers intuitive.

A/N-So there you have the first chapter. J I know I made Coulson's part long, but I love his character a lot. So tell me what you guys think and I will be working on the second chapter as soon as I post this. Any comments or suggestions are welcome, or if you just liked it, please, I would love to hear so.


	2. Chapter 2

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: Nineteen year old Peter Parker is contemplating putting his Spider suit back on after so long without it and Phil Coulson has been brought back to recruit young Parker in with The Avengers. Now on to chapter 2. _

Chapter 2.

Tony Stark hated mornings. Especially mornings after a long night of hard drinking. Groaning from underneath his pillow, listening to his AI give him his messages and outline his schedule for the day, starting with a meeting with Nick Fury, Stark had thrown it after he was done.

"Tell 'em all to go to hell, will ya, Jarvis?" he groaned again as he turned over.

"Sir?" Jarvis questioned.

"uhh…nothing." Stark replied as he kicked out of bed. He really needed a drink. But no, he had to get up and head down to SHIELD headquarters because Nick Fury decided to call him at an ungodly hour the previous night to inform him he needed to be there first thing in the morning-and alone.

"That man seriously needs a life." he grumbled as he stumbled out of the bathroom and looked in his closet for something to wear.

"Sir, if the others inquire on your whereabouts, should I tell them where you have gone?" Jarvis asked.

Tony thought for a minute. When Fury had called his private phone, something in his voice told Stark that this was not just gonna be any meeting. "No Jarvis. I will see what Cyclops wants and then if they need to know anything, I will let them know myself."

"Very well, sir." Jarvis replied.

Once Tony had made it to SHEILD headquarters, he was already dreading talking to Fury. The man was just a little too serious for him. If Tony wanted to be completely honest with himself, he was flat out intimidated by the one-eyed director. Sighing as he headed towards Fury's office, he nodded and pleasantly greeted the agents and secretaries.

"Hello Mr. Stark." a rather pretty brunette agent greeted with a warm smile that Tony politely returned. "Director Fury is waiting for you."

"Thanks." Tony replied, his eyes following the passing girl, admiring her…form.

"GET IN HERE, STARK!" he heard Fury's voice boom as if he had peered through the walls and saw what Tony was doing.

Tony sighed and hung his head low as he slowly opened Fury's office door. He felt like a kid walking into the Principal's office after pulling a prank on his teacher.

"Shut the door." Fury ordered after Stark came in.

"Yes _sir_." Tony answered sarcastically and shut it, earning him a glare from the latter.

"Sit down." Fury said in a cold tone.

Sealing his lips, Tony put his hands up in mock surrender and sat down. Fury then took a breath and stared at Tony.

"The reason I called you down here is to inform you that we will be recruiting a new member on the Avengers team."

Tony just blinked. He wasn't sure he even heard right. "A new…_member_?"

Fury just kept his cold hard stare on Tony. "That's right, Stark. A new member."

"What, did this become some kind of club or something?" Tony asked incredulously.

"His name is Peter Parker." Fury stated, ignoring Stark's question. Unlike most others, he was immune to Tony Stark's sarcasms and shenanigans. Fury then reached for a file on the other end of his desk and slid it over to Tony, who immediately grabbed it and flipped it open. Fury just sat in silence, his gaze never even blinking as Stark read over the young Parker's file.

"Jesus! He's only a kid!" Stark exclaimed, looking up at Fury, who only smirked lightly. "You've gotta be kidding me, here." Tony flipped through more pages and studied into it more. "A human spider…how wonderful."

"I see you've never seen him in action, Stark?" Fury asked, but before Tony could answer, he got up and hit some buttons on his large computer screen on the wall. Tony watched as a video came up and he could see a man covered head to toe in mostly red spandex and jumping from building to building, spewing a webbed substance from his hands, fighting off a group of bad guys with a swiftness that slightly impressed Tony, but what really caught his attention was the sight of Spiderman _literally_ climbing the city walls using only his fingers and feet, then making a mad leap to the building across the street, coming to an abrupt stop on the side and immediately climbing up to the top and disappearing out of the horizon.

Fury stops it then and Stark stares at the blank screen for a moment. He was impressed with the kid's abilities, there was no question there, but he was also just that-a kid. Nineteen years old to be exact. Seventeen years old when he had acquired his abilities, according to the file. Bitten by a radioactive spider. What luck.

Tony sighed and tossed the file on the desk. "I think this is a bad idea."

Fury kept his stare and replied cooly, "I didn't call you here for your opinion on the matter, Stark."

"Then what the hell did you call me here for then, Fury? To tell me that you and your agency, with all it's wisdom, has decided to induct another "member" in my merry old band of super strength hotheads, and not to mention the newbie is barely out of _diapers, _and now you just graciously invited me down here to tell me that I have no choice in the matter?"

Fury just stood there silent and after a moment, Tony threw his hands up and stood. "Well, I'm sorry. This is a bad idea and I'm not going to say otherwise." He then made his turn to leave, only to be stopped by Fury's voice.

"I'm not finished with you, Stark."

Tony just stood there and seethed, biting his bottom lip to keep from telling Fury where to stick it. "What do you want from me, Fury?"

"While Parker does possess extraordinary superhuman abilities, he is, like you've stated, just a kid. Which is why he will be staying in the Avengers tower while he is working for us." Fury's last words made Tony turn sharply.

"Come again?"

"You heard me."

Tony let out an irritated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok, first you tell me that not only do I have to take in another team member, but now you're telling me that I must baby sit him as well?"

"He is nineteen, Stark-"

"WITH SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES!" Stark's voice was echoing loud within the steel walls, but Fury still made no change in his dark expression. Exasperated, Tony again threw up his hands and opened the door, but then turned back and stared at Fury.

"Just for the record, I am not responsible for what happens to that kid. He may live in my tower, but I am not his father. He's your problem, just want you to know that." and with that, he slammed the door shut behind him.

It wasn't until after he heard Stark's steps get fainter that Fury had finally let out the breath he had been holding all through the meeting.

Peter was sitting at his desk sketching when Aunt May knocked on his door. He didn't hear her at first since he had his headphones on, but looked up when he caught a glance at her waving hands.

"What is it, Aunt May?" he asked, slipping the buds out of his ears.

Aunt May looked a tad uneasy. "There are a few men outside asking for you. Men in suits. One of them is asking for you, personally."

"What do they want?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me anything." May replied.

Peter just nodded and walked out into the living room where he found three men in dark suits sitting there waiting for him. When Peter approached, one of the men smiled and took off his sunglasses. He extended his hand.

"Mr. Peter Parker. Finally we meet." he said with a smile.

"Am I in trouble?" Peter asked confused, but taking the man's hand anyway, his gaze shifting to the two other men standing beside him.

"Uh, no. In fact, quite the contrary. My name is Phil Coulson and these two men are my associates." he then motioned over to the sofa. "Please sit?"

Peter looked at Coulson for a bit, but then slowly moved to sit. He was admittedly very nervous, but he did his best to put on a brave front when he saw his aunt nervously approaching the room.

Coulson exhaled before talking. "Mr. Parker, it's been two years since you have appeared as Spiderman, correct?"

Peter froze, his gaze meeting Aunt May's. His palms were sweaty at this point and he didn't know what to say. "H-how do you-"

"I know everything about you, Parker. Who you are, where you were born, where you were raised, whom you were raised by" he glanced over to aunt May when he said that. "what schools you went to and yes, I know about Spiderman."

Peter shifted in his seat. The guy across from him didn't look scary, but he was scared as hell anyway. More scared than he was facing off against George Stacy's officers, and that was scared.

Coulson smiled, understanding Peter's apprehension. "Relax Mr. Parker. We are not here to make trouble for you or your aunt. Like I said, quite the contrary."

Peter seemed to relax at this. "Then why are you here?"

Coulson shifted in his seat and glanced over at his associates before looking Peter in the eye. "What if I were to tell you that I have a proposition for your alter-ego Spiderman?"

Peter inhaled. "What kind of proposition?"

"To join a team, Mr. Parker. I'm sure you've heard of them." Coulson didn't remove his look from Peter's gaze. "The Avengers."

Peter blinked and he heard Aunt May gasp from the kitchen.

**A/N-I'm sorry this one is short, but I was so happy by the overwhelming amount of support I have gotten thus far that I felt I should get something out ASAP. I must go on an outing for the afternoon, but when I return I will try and get another chapter out. Thank you to all who reviewed and added my story to their favorites/alerts. I appreciate you all. Thanks for being patient, it will get better, I promise.**


	3. Chapter 3

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: Nick Fury has informed Tony Stark that the Avengers will be getting a new member and Stark is none too happy, and Agent Coulson visits Peter Parker. Now on to Chapter 3._

"Did Tony tell any of you why he called us all here?" Bruce Banner asked as the Avengers (minus Tony) all assembled in the main lounge at the Tower.

Steve Rogers shook his head as did everyone else. "No, he just said we all had to meet and he had some news from Fury, that was about it."

"Bad news?" Clint Barton asked.

Steve shrugged. "I don't know. I hope not."

Natasha Romanov spoke up next. "God, I hope it's not another one of their crap missions."

Clint nodded in agreement. "To tell you the truth, I was hoping to get a break after this last one."

Steve checked his watch. "Ok…it's now 10:13. Where the heck is Stark?" He then let out an aggravated sigh. He hated it when Tony was late to their meetings. But then Steve was always a rather punctual guy, which contrasted a lot with Tony Stark, who would be late to his own funeral.

"Well hell, since he isn't here yet, I think I will go over to the bar and pour myself a drink." Clint said, already heading over to said area. "Anyone else want one?"

"You're seriously gonna drink while you're on duty?" Natasha asked.

Clint was gonna reply when they all heard Tony's voice as he walked into the room.

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it 'duty', Miss Romanov, after all, it's just a meeting."

Natasha folded her arms. "Well, of course you would think so, Stark."

Tony made a cross with his fingers as he passed her and walked over to the bar. "Make hers a double, and get me a scotch on ice, will ya?" He tapped the counter twice before turning his attention to the rest of the group.

"Well, my friends, the reason I called this little assembly is to inform all of you that our lovely director Cyclops has just informed me that we will soon be adding a new member to our fun show." He paused to let it sink in with the others, but mostly to retrieve his scotch from Clint. "Thanks buddy."

"No problem." Clint replied as he downed a shot of bourbon.

"What do you mean, new member?" Steve asked.

Tony took another swig and placed it on the counter. "Precisely how I said it, Cap. His name is Peter Parker, or otherwise known as Spiderman."

Natasha perked up. "I have heard his name around. Fought a giant mutated human lizard a couple years ago in an experiment gone wrong."

"The scientist, a rather _mad_ scientist named Dr. Curt Connors had developed this serum using the DNA of lizards and finds that it held the ability to not only regeneration, but mutation as well. Let's just say it made him a tad coo coo and he attempted to infect every person in the city with it." Tony took another swig of his scotch. "Kinda like when Reindeer Games tried to take over the planet, only this guy tried to turn everyone into a lizard."

"And this…spiderman stopped him?" Bruce asked.

"That he did, with the help of the police chief, but he was an unfortunate casualty."

"But why would SHIELD bring him out now?" Steve asked.

Tony emptied his glass before answering. "Ah, glad you asked, Cap. Here's the kicker. This flying arachnid…he's a teenager."

The room suddenly got quiet.

"What?" Bruce asked.

Tony refilled his glass. "Jarvis, please bring up Spiderman's file." The AI immediately obeyed and SHEILD's file had come up in the middle of the room. Bruce walked up to it and tapped on the stats of Peter Parker and his counterpart.

"He's nineteen."

"Seventeen and still in high school when he acquired his abilities." Tony stated.

"That must've been some spider bite." Bruce commented. When Steve looked at him confused, he pointed to the part where it explained how Parker was infected.

"Check out the video file." Tony said as he finished his second glass. Bruce complied and this time they were all huddled around watching, except for Tony.

"Incredible." Steve commented as he watched Spiderman swing from building to building and climb up walls.

"Knew you would approve, Capsicle." Tony said.

Steve just rolled his eyes and ignored Stark. "So when do we meet him?"

Tony just shrugged, working on his third glass. "My guess is they're probably delivering the poor kid his fate as we speak, but who knows?"

Steve nodded. "Well, we'll all welcome him then. I mean, he looks impressive enough."

"Given that he still has the technique down." Stark said. "This kid's been out of commission for the past two years now." he took a swig, "Guess we stole his limelight."

"Or given all the attention, it probably scared him off." Bruce stated, earning him a nod from Steve and Natasha. "I mean, with abilities like this, it's not like you forget them."

"Plus he's still young enough, he'll pick them back up in no time." Clint chimed in.

"I agree." Steve replied.

"Well hell, of course the Captain here agrees. He was frozen for seventy years and he still came outta that quite a winner." Tony said, earning him a glare from Steve and he stifled his chuckles in his drink.

Natasha just rolled her eyes at Tony and looked to each of the others. "Well, I guess we better get to know our new teammate. Let me know when he arrives."

"Will do." Bruce waves at her as Natasha makes her leave with Clint not too far behind.

"Oh what's this? The chick leaves and I lose my best bartender?" Tony whined as Clint shrugged at him and turned to catch up with Natasha.

Tony made a disgusted face and looked at Bruce and Steve, pointing. "That guy is seriously whipped."

Bruce chuckled and Steve scoffed at him. "Have another drink, Stark." They then made their exit.

"Oh, don't mind if I do, oh Captain, my Captain." Tony slurred as he made his way around the bar and poured his fourth glass.

After all, he did have a lot of thinking to do.

Peter sat on the porch for what was now three hours straight. It had begun to rain and he leaned his head back against the wood. _"Join the Avengers."_

Peter couldn't get Coulson's words out of his head. Spiderman…with the Avengers. The thought itself was almost unreal.

Sighing, he hangs his head low. He was at a crossroads. One one end, this was his big chance to bring back Spiderman. No matter how hard the battle was to stop Dr. Connors and his lizard alter ego and being hunted down by five hundred police officers, his ride as his web spewing counterpart was a ride worth riding. Yes, he had lost his uncle and Gwen's dad along the way, but ever since he had hung his suit up, he could always feel a big part of himself missing. He owed a lot to Spiderman. Not only did he fight crime and save the city from Connors' plan, but he also saved Peter himself. All his life Peter never felt he belonged with normal people. He had felt out of place for as long as he could remember. Spiderman had shown him to be a new man in a lot of ways. Now he would get to join a whole group of alter egos and people just like him.

But on the other end, was he willing to make Spiderman his whole life? What about his Aunt May? She had lost enough already. Could he leave her? Peter couldn't see himself doing that.

It was then that May had decided to come outside and join her nephew. She wrapped her sweater around her small form and went to stand next to Peter.

"So I guess you've made up your mind?" she asked, her gaze fixed on the rain.

Peter looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

Aunt May just chuckled. "You can't honestly tell me that you are considering turning down their offer because of me, are you?"

Peter was silent then. He was always amazed by his aunt and her uncanny ability to always know what he was thinking.

"You know what I think?" she then asked.

"No, but I know you'll tell me anyway." Peter replied with a smile, earning himself a nudge in the ribs from May.

"I think you should get your butt back in that house and call that agent what's his name and tell him you will join that team." Her voice was solid, which always meant she was dead serious.

Peter shook his head. "Aunt May, you know I can't leave you-"

"I don't need you to worry about me, Peter Parker. You are just like your uncle was, always thinking I can't take care of myself." She then walked away from him. "But I'll have you know, I may be old, but I have a lot of fight still left in me."

"I know Aunt May, but-"

"Just like there is still a lot of fight still left in you." she pointed out to him and he had no choice but to stay silent.

"Peter, you know you want this. I know you're worried about me, but please don't be. Spiderman is needed now, so that means you are needed now. There is so much help needed out there and you cannot spend your life here thinking about me."

Peter just stared at her. He knew she was right. Aunt May smiled.

"So that does it. You go and make that phone call." she said, looking him right in the eye.

"You're amazing, Aunt May." Peter smiled genuinely at her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"It's you who's amazing sweetheart." May whispered.

Ten minutes later, Peter stood against the wall with his phone in one hand, and Agent Coulson's card in the other. Before he dialed the number, he let out a few deep breaths. Then he dialed.

"Coulson." came the reply after only one ring.

"I'm in."

**A/N-Wow…three chapters in less than 24 hours. :D That's awesome. Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart who reviewed and alerted my story. You all helped with these first three chapters and I look forward to belting out some more. Sad to say I must get back into my work week, but hopefully, I can find some time to get Ch. 4 out ASAP. **

**So when we get back, Peter will meet his new teammates and we'll see how Stark fares with him. Also, how will the team react when they find Agent Coulson alive? Not to mention a certain God of Mischief is released from his prison sentence and plans to spend some time on Earth, much to his brother's chagrin. Stay tuned. ;) I love you guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

The Amazing Avenger.

**A/N-I am SO sorry for the late update. This week has been hell. But thank you to all who read, commented and favorited/alerted my story in the meantime. You guys all rock!**

_Recap: Tony fills the team (minus Thor) in on Spiderman's upcoming arrival into The Avengers. Peter makes his decision. Now on to Ch.4._

Chapter 4.

Thor was angry, more angry than he had ever been in his life. He paced back and forth in his chambers, his Mjollnir in his hand and his breath coming out in small hitches. How could his father do this? Loki had done his time, spent two years in a prison cell. Now he was to be banished? To MIDGARD, no less?

"_He cannot stay here, Thor. You know this." Odin tried reasoning, but Thor was having none of it. _

"_He cannot go to Midgard, either!" Thor boomed. _

"_He chooses to go there. I can have him banished to Jotenheim, if I had wanted to, but I allowed him to choose, and he chose Earth."_

"_If he goes to Earth, they will kill him there!" Thor cried. _

"_He will be in less danger there, I assure you." Odin replied._

_Thor clenched his teeth. "Father, I have sworn to uphold a duty to the Midgardians. Loki's presence on Earth will only jeapardize that."_

"_And what of the duty to your own people, Thor?"_

_Thor just looked at his father. He knew what his father was saying was right. Loki was wanted by the Chitauri and banishing him to other realms would expose him and leave him unprotected. At least on Earth, Thor could protect him. _

He also understood Odin's position. With Loki's heritage now known, he was feared and hated by many Asgardians. Even though Odin would have accepted Loki back, doing so would cause great unrest in his kingdom. He just couldn't risk it. It was as though Loki wanted to stay anyway. He still carried great anger toward his family, including Odin. The only one he allowed to visit him while imprisoned was his mother, Frigga, who insisted against Odin's wishes on weekly visits to check on the welfare of her youngest son. She may have been horrified by his crimes, but he was still her baby. She made sure he was taken care of and treated properly by the guards. She often brought him his favorite books and occasionally his favorite foods. She cherished every one of their visits and she knew that even though Loki put up a front most of the time, he liked them too. But he had refused to see his brother.

Thor hated it, but he understood too. As much as he wished they hadn't, things had definitely changed between them. Loki had become someone he didn't know, or even wanted to know, but nevertheless he was still his brother. They had been through too much together all their lives to completely disown him. But there were times when Thor would be just downright miserable. He wished for so long that it could go back to the way it was, but he also knew that fairy tales were for children.

Now the time had come for Thor to break the news to his friends, his teammates, his fellow Avengers. They would not be happy, but Thor could only hope Loki wouldn't be anymore a threat now that he was out and has clearly stated that he wanted no more to do with Earth as far as wanting to rule it. Thor didn't know if he quite believed him, but he knew that as long as Loki stayed there, he would have to keep his eye on him. As much as he dreaded it, he needed to warn his friends as soon as possible.

"The Allfather is ready for you now." a guard had informed Thor, who awakened from his thoughts and nodded at the guard. The guard disappeared as fast as he came and Thor took a deep breath before gripping his Mjollnir and walking out to meet his father and Heimdall at the gate of the newly restored rainbow bridge. Once he got there, he was met by nods from both of them.

"Father, I must ask that you please reconsider." Thor pleaded last minute. "No good can come of this."

Odin just sighed and looked upon his oldest son. "Thor, I need you to trust me."

Thor was about to ask why and what his father was talking about when they were all alerted to the entrance of Loki, standing with two armed guards on both sides of him. He was dressed down from his usual Asgardian attire, dressed entirely in black. His hair did not have the raven style that Thor saw on Earth, but was slicked back the way he had usually had it in the old days. But Thor did notice a difference in his features. He was less pale than he was a couple years before, but his eyes were still dark and cold and his cheekbones hollow. The two brothers stared at each other, but stayed silent while Odin tapped his staff to the floor and stepped in front of Thor while Hemdall stayed put, his eyes never leaving Loki.

"My son." Odin nodded at Loki, who only scoffed and shook his head in distaste, but stayed silent.

"Odin." he finally acknowledged, but stared at Thor, whose jaw line was set like a steel bar.

Odin ignored Loki's cold response and set about business. He nodded to the guards, one stepping to Loki and removing his chains. Once they were off, Loki stretched out his arms and hands, but then placed them back to his sides. Thor had realized that it was the first time since Loki's captivity that he had been unbound.

"I take it you understand our agreement?" Odin asked his youngest son.

Loki only nodded, but Thor was confused. "What agreement?" he asked, looking from Odin to Loki. "Father, what is this?" he asked again, his voice raising. He didn't know what made him even angrier, Loki being banished to Earth, or him being kept out of the loop.

Odin paid no attention to Thor and carried on. "Then so be it. Loki Odinson-"

"Laufeyson!" Loki corrected sharply. His gaze moved over to Thor, who was gripping his Mjollnir and staring at Loki with a seething anger in his eyes. Loki knew that look all too well. He kept his cold stare, but a slightly soft smile circled around his mouth.

"Loki Laufeyson, I Odin Allfather hereby banish thee to the realm of Midgard indefinitely." Odin then pointed his staff and a soft glow centered around Loki and within seconds, Loki vanished. Thor just stared at the spot Loki was standing in for a few minutes before turning towards his father.

"What agreement?" He asked, his tone concrete.

Odin inhaled. "Loki will remain on Midgard in order for us to know where we stand with the Chitauri. If he remained here, our realm would have been exposed to immediate danger. Loki had made a deal with the Chitauri that he had not followed through on and now that he has been released from our prison, they intend on following through on their promise to find and punish him."

Thor was just more confused. "Father, I don't understand. We could've protected him against the Chitauri. I, along with the Midgardians, have fought against them and won. Surely, we could fight them."

"Thor, there is more than just the threat of the Chitauri. Your brother had told me in great detail that the Chitauri has also joined forces with one who is called Thanos, a Titan who is bent on causing nothing but death and destruction. Even we are not powerful enough to defeat such a being."

Thor was stunned. He had known of Thanos and beings such as him. What he didn't know was how much of a closer threat he had just became, or Loki's association with him. Why did he suddenly feel like he was kept out of everything?

"So banishing Loki to Earth was your plan to keep them from coming here?" Thor asked, everything all making sense to him now.

"I had to do everything in my power to ensure Asgard's survival. Do you have any idea how much damage just Thanos himself can cause? Your brother knew they would come here first looking for him, so that's why he agreed to be sent elsewhere."

"and Earth was the only choice?"

"Like I had said before, I allowed him to choose." Odin simply said.

Thor couldn't hear anymore. He immediately turned toward Heimdall. "I need to get to Earth right away!"

Heimdall looked over at Odin, who only sighed and nodded and then Heimdall nodded at Thor. "As you wish."

Thor could no longer think. He had to get to the others and warn them, and he had to do so now.

Peter looked around his room. It felt weird knowing it would be the last time he would stand in it, at least for a while. He had his bags packed and was getting a few last minute things together. Aunt May had been supportive and helpful, but Peter could see the sadness in her eyes. He hated like hell having to leave her, but May was insistent on this being the right thing for him. Although he still hated it, he knew she was right.

It had been two days since he had taken SHIELD up on their offer. He had been particularly stunned to learn that not only would he be teaming up with the Avengers, but that he would also be living at Tony Stark's tower. He was excited and a tad nervous at the same time. Even though he has idolized Stark for a the last few years, he found himself a bit intimidated by him. After all, he was Tony Stark.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll all love you." Aunt May said from the doorway. Peter turned and smiled at her. "I know I do."

"I love you too, Aunt May." Peter replied, but his tone was soft.

"Peter Parker, you stop that." Aunt May mock-scolded. With that, she walked over and embraced her nephew. "You are not allowed to feel guilty about leaving. You have to move on with your life."

"I'll miss you." he said softly.

"I'll miss you too, everyday." she replied.

Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Peter felt his heart begin to race as Aunt May went to answer it. It was a couple of SHIELD agents, minus Agent Coulson.

"Good afternoon, Maam." one of them greeted May. "Agent Coulson sent us to escort Mr. Parker to his new residence."

Aunt May silently nodded and looked behind her to see Peter standing in the doorway with his bag. He also had another bag set by the door containing his Spiderman suit. Aunt May picked it up and handed it to him.

"So I guess this is it." Peter said, slinging the smaller bag over his shoulder.

"I'll be right here if you need me." Aunt May told him. "In the meantime, you take care of yourself and be careful."

Tears began to well in Peter's eyes, but he fought them from escaping. "I will."

He gave her a final embrace and she cupped her hand on his cheek before he turned and followed the agents to a black SUV parked in front of the house. Aunt May stood on the porch and saw her nephew off. Once he was in, he stared at his aunt and smiled at her. She smiled back and mouthed "I love you" to him and it was then he let the captive tears escape. As the SUV drove off, Aunt May let out the breath she had been holding and let her own tears fall.

"Please keep him safe." she whispered.

Tony was in the mood for a drink. All that morning had revolved in making plans for the new member to arrive at the Tower. Despite his initial skepticism, he had to admit that he was a tad anxious to meet the one they call Spiderman. After the last meeting with his fellow Avengers, he had spent a considerable amount of time hacking into SHEILD's database and retrieving every bit of information they had on Peter Parker and his alter-ego. Now he was about to meet the kid himself.

The other members had all agreed to assemble and meet Parker when he arrived. Steve was the first to arrive. Tony smirked at his unending punctuality.

"Hey Cap. Can I get you a drink?" Tony greeted.

Steve looked at Stark's glass of scotch and gave him a "Really?" face. "Water will be fine, thanks."

Tony chuckled. "A little too early to be completely boring, don't you think, Cap?"

Steve rolled his eyes and retorted, "A little too early to be drinking yourself stupid, don't you think, Stark?"

Tony placed a hand on his chest and mocked being stung by that comeback. "Ouch. And the ref takes a point away." He walked over and handed Steve his water.

"Thank you." Steve accepted.

"Now don't go drinking too many of those, you hear?" Tony said. "I hear the water here puts hair on your chest, which in your case, I better just turn the hose on you."

"Charming." Steve replied.

Just then, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha enter the room. "Hey, my trusty bartender has arrived along with the rest of the posse." Tony greeted, earning him a smile from Clint, a chuckle from Bruce, and a glare from Natasha.

"Tash, please. Enough with the looks, you're beginning to make me blush, I swear." Tony said, but Natasha did manage a slight smirk.

"I'm willing to bet she's going to kill you one day, Stark." Steve said.

"Oh I'm sure you would be beside yourself about that." Stark retorted.

"Actually, yes I would. Where else am I gonna get the best ice water money can buy?" he replied, holding up his glass.

Bruce and Clint laughed at that. Tony stared at them and replied, "Oh, ha ha ha…the captain has finally managed to learn the art of a sense of humor." But then he, in turn, laughed along with them and moved to go sit on his sofa. "If any of you want a drink, you will have to refer to my bartender."

Clint just smiled and shook his head. "Yes sir!" He made his way to the bar and asked, "I'm sure his royal highness would like a refill, no?"

Tony raised his glass and smiled.

"Is that a trick question?" Natasha asked.

Clint only nodded and went about making drinks with Natasha joining him at the bar and Bruce and Steve making their way to sit on the chairs in the room.

"So when do we expect the newbie to arrive?" Bruce asked, accepting a drink from Clint.

Tony looked at his watch. "I'm guessing in the next half hour or so, but who knows?" He took his freshly refilled glass and took a swig.

"Sir?" Jarvis interrupted.

"Yes Jarvis?" Tony answered.

"Director Fury has arrived."

"Or maybe sooner than expected." he mumbled. "Thank you Jarvis. Send them in." He placed his glass down and got up, along with the others.

Fury came in alone. He looked at all of them before he said, "Glad you're all here."

"Do you have the new kid with you?" Tony asked.

"He is on his way and will be arriving shortly." Fury answered. "But before he does, there is someone who is eager to see all of you again."

The team looked confused, but Fury went to the door and nodded and in walked Agent Coulson. The entire room went silent.

"Hello guys." Coulson greeted with a nod.

"Tell me I'm not the only one seeing this." Tony spouted, as the others just stood there with their mouths open, even Clint had stopped amid pouring a drink.

"H-How-?" Natasha managed, but her shock just left her unable to complete the question that was obviously on everyone else's mind.

"It's a rather long story." Coulson replied, glancing at Fury, who returned his stare, but stayed silent.

Bruce then broke the ice. "Well, it's definitely a story we would all love to hear, but in the meantime, welcome back, Coulson." He walked over and shook his hand.

Tony then followed. "Glad to see you again, you son of a bitch." He took Coulson's handshake, but then got him in an embrace.

"Thank you, Stark. I see you still ooze the charm." Coulson answered.

Clint followed, giving Coulson a pat on the back and Natasha walked up, still at a loss for words. Coulson just stared at her and nodded, their wordless exchange understood by only them. Then Coulson eyed Steve, who was still standing in the same spot, a confused and torn look displayed along his features.

Coulson walked over to Steve. Standing in front of him, he said, "It's especially great seeing you again."

Steve seemed to break out of his trance and nodded. He didn't know what to think. "You too, man. You too." was all he could get out before he pulled the agent into a tight hug. It was not normally like him to do so, but this time was different. When Coulson was 'killed', Steve carried around so much guilt that he was not able to be there to save him from Loki. Coulson looked up to him, like a true hero, and he felt he let him down. Now here he was, alive and well. As much as Steve wanted to know how, at that moment, it didn't matter.

After Steve broke the embrace, Tony clapped his hands together. "I say if any moment calls for a drink, this would be one." He then looked at Clint, who rolled his eyes and retreated back to the bar. Bruce laughed and went to join him.

Fury's phone beeped and he answered. He then flipped it closed and looked at the team. "He's here."

Peter got out of the SUV and gazed up at the enormous tower. "Wow." he whispered.

He had seen many pictures of the tower and even from afar, but he had never been this close. He had silently wondered to himself what it would be like to climb such a building, but his thoughts were cut off when an agent handed him his bags. Taking a deep breath, he followed them inside. He was excited and a bit nauseous at the same time, but managed to hide it as they were approached by Fury and Coulson.

"Thank you, gentlemen, we will take it from here." Fury nodded toward Peter's escorts and they retreated back outside, leaving Peter to gaze at the tall man with the eye patch.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Parker, my name is Nick Fury and of course you remember Agent Coulson." Coulson nodded as did Peter.

"Yes." Peter replied.

"Well, I'm sure you would like to get settled, but before you do that, there is a team upstairs that is waiting to meet you." Fury stated and motioned for Peter to follow. Peter tried to hide his smile and he looked all around him. He couldn't get over how incredibly big it was. He followed the men all the way up a flight of stairs until they came to a large room. Fury opened the door and when Peter walked inside, he could only swear he was dreaming.

"Guys, may I introduce Peter Parker." Fury said.

"Hello." Peter greeted, ignoring the nervous rumbles his stomach was producing.

The group was quiet at first, taking in just how young the kid was. But Steve, ever the polite one, walked over and stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Peter, my name is Steve Rogers."

Peter took his hand, awestruck. "You're Captain America."

Steve smiled and nodded. "That's right."

Bruce followed suit and soon introductions were made and all were taking the new kid in well. Then came Tony's turn.

"Peter Parker, we meet at last." he said, shaking his hand. "As you probably already know, my name is Tony Stark and this is my tower."

Peter tried hard to hold down his excitement, but Tony could see the gleam in the kid's eyes. "Thank you for having me, Mr. Stark."

Tony nodded and took a swig from his glass. What he really wanted to do was take this kid and see what he really could do. But he supposed that could wait until later.

As they all chatted, Coulson and Fury nodded toward each other and turned to leave, but before they could, Thor pushed right through the door. His sudden entrance startled them all, especially Peter, but the look on the god's face was evident enough that this was not a casual visit.

"What is it, Thor?" Steve asked.

"There is serious matter I must speak to you all about." Thor answered.

"Like, how serious?" Tony asked.

Taking a deep breath, Thor gripped his Mjollnir and stared at his teammates.

"Loki is back."

**A/N-There. Another chapter finally done. I will do my absolute best to get Ch. 5 out before the day is over. I know I did not have any dialogue between Thor and Loki, but trust me, they will have their scenes together soon. ;) Thank you all for being so patient with me. **


	5. Chapter 5

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: Loki has been banished to Earth after serving his sentence, leaving Thor rushing to warn his fellow Avengers. The team finds out Coulson still lives and they all meet their new teammate, Peter Parker, who says goodbye to Aunt May and goes to live in Avengers tower._ _Now on to Chapter 5. _

Chapter 5.

The whole room fell silent once again. You could literally hear a mouse squeak in the whole tower. Steve and Tony exchanged looks, Bruce struggled to hold his anger in tow, Clint had gone pale, but his jaw line set, and Natasha narrowed her eyes and got into her kill-ready stance. Nick Fury delivered Thor a cold stare from just his one eye and Coulson just froze. Peter just looked from Thor to everyone else, not knowing what to do.

"What do you mean, _he's back_?" Fury asked coldly.

"My brother has been released from his confines in Asgard and my father has banished him here." Thor answered, in a nutshell.

"Hold on a minute." Tony rubbed his temples and tried to get a handle on what Thor just said. "Your brother-your _psychotic_ brother who had tried taking over the planet with an army of God knows what creatures-has been released and your father decided in all his wisdom to send him _back here_?"

"Is that what you're telling us, Thor?" Bruce asked.

Thor sighed. "Yes."

"What the hell!" Natasha snapped, and Clint tried to calm her, but she nudged his hand away. "Two years? Just two years, for everything he has done?"

"He should've never been released at all!" Fury chimed in.

"The sentences on Asgard are different than what they are here." Thor said defensively.

"Yeah no shit!" Natasha bit at him.

"Ok, ok…let's just calm down here." Steve said, his hands up in gesture as he turned back to Thor. "Do you know what his intentions are here? Is the world in danger?"

Thor shook his head. "He said he has no intentions of attempting to take over and I believe him-"

"Of course you believe him!" Clint snapped.

"-but the Chitauri still plan to hunt my brother down and their intentions could still be the same." Thor went on, ignoring Clint's outburst. "My father had no choice but to banish him out of Asgard in order to protect our realm from them."

"Well, I'm glad he's looking out for number one." Tony said as he went to pour himself a drink.

"You all must understand. My brother may have been misguided, but during his time here on Earth, he was not himself at all. Much like Clint and Dr, Selvig, he was under the direct power of the Tesseract." Thor explained.

"Right. But unlike your brother, Clint and Dr. Selvig didn't know on a murdering rampage and try and take over an entire planet." Tony chimed.

"But Clint did shoot me." Fury stated, and Clint shot a look at Fury. "But the fact still remains, Loki is still very much a threat."

Fury looked to Coulson. "Put everyone on high alert. Put out to all units that Loki is to be detained and arrested on sight."

Thor turned toward Fury, but stopped dead when he saw Coulson standing beside him. The confused look on his face said it all and he turned to the others.

"Long story." Bruce said.

Thor stood stunned for a second, then shook his head. Again, he turned to Fury. "Look, I do not know why my brother has chosen to come here, but going after him that way will only agitate him, and he is very powerful."

"I don't care how powerful he is. He is and always will be a threat to this planet. I will not idly stand by while he roams these streets." Fury shot back.

"Look, maybe Thor is right." Steve said, earning him a glare from the others, but he maintained his stance. "I'm not saying I agree with his sentence, but he has served it regardless. I think it may be a good idea to just wait it out and see what he does."

"Then we can see if the Chitauri Army will really come for him, and see what they plan to do with us." Bruce agreed, albeit reluctantly.

"It's a gamble, yes, but going after Loki directly will just create unnecessary bloodshed." Steve said.

"I say arrest him, then when the Chitauri come for him, we use the little bastard as a bargaining chip." Tony said, Clint and Natasha nodding their heads along in approval. Steve looked at Tony, who smirked at him in return.

"That sounds like a great idea to me." Clint chimed in. "I will even volunteer to hunt down and detain him myself."

"Me too." Natasha said.

Thor had to struggle to hold back his aggravation. He understood why they were angry, but he knew the consequences of crossing Loki.

Fury spoke up after considering both sides of the argument. "As much as I hate to be a sitting duck, I do agree with Rogers. Going after Loki without merit will only create a bigger problem." Clint and Natasha threw their hands up in disgust and Tony just scoffed in his drink.

Fury then turned his attention to Thor. "BUT, if that brother of yours so much as breathes the wrong way, you better believe we will hit him with everything we got, is that clear?"

Thor stared at Fury for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

Then Fury looked to Coulson, who was leaning against the wall, a pale look on his face.

"Hey, you ok?" Fury asked, breaking Coulson out of his trance.

"Y-Yeah." he said, but he wasn't. He could feel the walls closing in on him. He had lived with these attacks during the first six months after his 'death', before he managed to get them under control. Now he could feel his chest constricting and nausea began to creep up on him.

"Excuse me." he quickly said as he half-ran out of the room, running down the halls until he managed to find a bathroom. He slammed down on his knees and emptied his stomach in the porcelain bowl. He was sweating profusely and struggling to get his breathing under control. Whenever he shut his eyes, he could still see Loki's face as he looked down on him dying. The evil grin displayed on his pale features as Coulson struggled between staggered breaths. During times like this, he could almost feel the septar piercing through him all over again. The searing pain taking over his body as he fell to the ground. He could see Thor yelling from the sealed cage, though it was incoherent from where he was. Then came the numbness of death…

Coulson's thoughts were broken by the feeling of someone kneeling next to him. It was Steve, holding out a towel to him. He managed a half-smile, and struggled to calm himself as he took the towel. He wiped his mouth and went to flush the toilet.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." he managed weakly.

"I do." Steve answered.

Coulson looked up at him and then moved to sit against the wall, holding his head in his hands. He hated to be like this in front of the Captain, but he knew if he tried to stand, he would not stand straight. Steve sat down next to him and handed him a bottle of water and Coulson took a couple sips. "It still feels real, you know?" he looked over to Steve. "Like it feels like it's happening to me, over and over."

"I do know the feeling." Steve replied. He could still see himself in the plane, diving nose first into the ocean. He didn't expect to live. He accepted his fate. Then he woke up, seventy years later, as if he had just dreamed the whole thing. He suffered the same thing Coulson was.

"I just want you to know, I'm behind your decision." Coulson told him, and Steve looked over at him. "It's not because I wouldn't want to get that son of a bitch and lock him up forever, but it's that it's the logical choice."

Steve nodded. "I just hope that I'm right."

"He's a goddamn fool!" Clint exclaimed.

"We don't need anymore of a body count on our hands, Barton!" Fury shot back.

"Just give me one shot, Fury. I will make that bastard pay for all this!" Clint shot back.

"My orders are clear!" Fury boomed, and with that, Fury turned and left the room.

Peter had stayed seated on the sofa during the whole melee that occurred ever since Thor arrived. He decided that the best thing to do was to sit and be quiet and take everything in. Thor had left the room and Clint and Fury had been going at it since Coulson had ran off and Steve after him. Bruce, ironically, was trying to be the peacemaker. Tony just continued to drink and Natasha was busy trying to calm Clint down. 'Good first day." he thought.

"Not exactly your ideal welcoming party." Tony quipped, taking a seat next to Peter.

"It's cool. I've seen worse." Peter replied.

"I'm sure you have." Tony said, taking a drink.

"Do you think he'll attack us?" Peter asked.

"Who?"

"Loki." Peter replied.

Tony sighed. "I don't know. But if he does, we'll be ready."

Peter nodded and Tony looked at him. "Listen, why don't you come with me to the training room and show me what you got."

Peter looked at him. "Now?"

Tony shrugged. "Sure, why not? I mean, I've seen you on video and all, but I really wanna see for myself what you can do."

Peter shrugged back. "Ok, but it's been awhile."

Tony winked. "Humor me."

**A/N-Sorry this is a short chapter, but I have to get to bed for work tomorrow. Just thought I'd get another one out to you guys. Thanks again for the awesome support.**


	6. Chapter 6

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: Thor arrives at Stark Tower to warn his fellow Avengers about Loki's return to Earth and the possibility of the Chitauri Army following suit, leaving the team conflicting on how to handle the situation; Coulson relives his 'death' during a panic attack, and Tony wants to see first hand just what Peter Parker can do. Now on to Chapter Six._

_Chapter Six._

Thor stood along the edge of the roof of Stark Tower. He felt incredibly guilty for all the arguing among his teammates. He didn't choose for Loki to be banished to Midgard and tried to prevent it, but he couldn't help feeling responsible nonetheless. As the daylight began to fade to dusk, he saw many city lights come on. He had wished he could see Loki. Not to try and capture him, but to talk to him, see what his plans were. As uneasy as Loki's presence made him feel, he had tried to remain optimistic. Loki may have his magic, but this time he had no army or anyone backing him up. If anything, Loki had an entire army searching for him. That was another pang in Thor's heart. While he swore his duty of protecting the people of Midgard, he also had a silent oath to try and protect his brother from those hunting him. Feeling this all weighing on him, he let out a deep long sigh.

"So is it gonna be a clear night tonight, or will we be looking at thunder?"

Thor turned to see Bruce standing behind him, his hands deep in his pockets, smiling sheepishly with a tired look on his face.

Thor chuckled and looked up in the sky. "No, my friend. I think tonight will be ok."

Bruce sighed and went to stand beside Thor. "You know, I'm not gonna pretend to know just what you're going through. What with us and your brother and all. I just hope you understand that even after two years, we're all still kinda shaken up, especially Clint and Coulson."

Thor nodded and looked down. "I understand." Then he looked at Bruce. "Coulson-?"

Bruce laughed. "I know. We just found out ourselves right before you arrived. We still don't know how it's possible, but he's still here."

"I am grateful for that." Thor said. "He is a good man."

Bruce nodded. "So do you know where he could be?" When Thor looked at him, he clarified, "Your brother."

Thor shook his head. "I do not know."

Bruce sighed. "Then I guess all we do is wait. In the meantime, we could get our new teammate up to speed. He's a nice kid, though we just met him."

Thor nodded, then after a moment, he looked at Bruce questioningly. "New teammate?"

Tony watched with astonishment as Peter climbed up and down the walls of the training room, spewing out webs and swinging across back and forth, and finally landing on his hands and feet in perfect motion. After two plus years, it felt good to move like that again.

"Impressive." Tony beamed.

"Thanks." Peter replied, getting up and dusting himself off. "I can do better, but like I said, it's been awhile and the space is kinda limited in here."

Tony just shrugged. "It's ok. I can take you outside later and you can show me around the buildings." He grabbed a towel and tossed it to Peter. "So tell me, how did you come across your…skill?" He already knew everything from Peter's files, but he wanted to hear from Peter himself.

"My father was a scientist. He used to work with another scientist named Curt Connors, who was at the time studying theories of regeneration." Peter went and tossed the towel in the hamper that was by the door.

"That would be the man who would later become a lizard and go beserk?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. My father had been working extensively by the looks of his research, but he disappeared after his study was ransacked when I was a kid. He took everything, including me, and left me with my aunt and uncle. I never heard from either of my parents again." Peter was quiet for a minute and Tony was patient. "Years later, I came across some of my father's work and was able to locate Connors at Oscorp and was somehow bitten by one of their genetically mutated spiders and well, here I am."

Tony whistled. "That's a hell of a spider bite."

Peter chuckled. "Yeah, well, I guess I put it to good use, huh?"

Tony raised his eyebrows and nodded. "That you did."

Peter looked over at Tony. "Look, I just wanna say that I really appreciate this opportunity. I guess when I had started this…superhero thing, I would be on my own and well, that suited me just fine…considering I wanted to go back-"

Tony put his hands in his pockets and studied Peter while he rambled. 'Damn, he's young.' he thought to himself. But even then, he couldn't help but like the kid already. There was just something sincere about him, and from what Tony has viewed from SHEILD's files and witnessed in the training room, he had definitely had a lot of fight in him as well. Tony never found it easy to trust others; and with his past, for good reason, but he found himself drawn to the young Peter Parker.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am all in this thing, Mr. Stark. I'm gonna work hard and I will show you that I can be just as great as anyone here." Peter looked at Tony hopefully, but genuinely, and Tony couldn't help but smile.

"Well, it's only your first day, kid, and from the sounds of recent events, you might just have your chance soon." Tony replied.

Peter smiled and Tony gave him a pat on the back as they rounded a corner and were met by Bruce and Thor, who were coming back in from the rooftop. Thor gave a nod at Tony and looked over at Peter.

"I filled him in." Bruce informed Tony, then looked at Peter, who was looking at Thor with the most awestruck look on his face. "Peter Parker, this is Thor, Prince of Asgard."

"The God of Thunder." Peter said, and extended his hand.

Thor nodded and took Peter's hand, who winced a bit at the grip. "That is correct, Son of Parker."

"I can't believe I am talking to an actual god." Peter said.

"You should see the things he can do with that hammer." Tony spouted under his breath. "It would really embarrass you."

Peter and Bruce chuckled and Thor looked confused. Just then, Steve and Coulson met them.

"Everything good?" Tony asked Coulson, genuinely concerned.

"Yes, everything is fine." Coulson replied, taking a quick glance at Steve. "Now if you all will excuse me, I have to go do a whole lot of paperwork on today's developments."

Thor came forward. "I am glad to see you here again, Coulson."

Coulson smiled. "You too, Thor."

Coulson nodded to everyone and left. Tony then turned to Steve. "With all that's happened, you should have accepted that drink."

Steve chuckled a bit. "You know what, Stark? For the first time, I actually agree with you."

"Any idea on how he's come back?"

Steve shook his head. "He doesn't even have a clue."

Tony sighed. "Of course he doesn't."

"Well, I better get going. I've had enough excitement for one day." Bruce said, nodding towards the others as he made his leave.

"Yeah, wait up. I'll head out with you." Steve said. He nodded toward Peter. "Peter, it was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, you too." Peter replied.

"I had better take my leave as well." Thor nodded.

"You heading back to Asgard?" Steve asked.

"No, I believe I will stay here, just in case my brother is found." Thor said.

"You need a place to stay?" Tony asked.

"I thank you, but no. Banner has invited me to stay with him." Thor replied.

"Bye everyone. See you tomorrow." Bruce called and he, Steve, and Thor made their exits. Clint and Natasha left earlier, along with Fury, leaving Tony and Peter alone.

"Well, that was a fun-filled day, and I assure you, around here, they only get better." Tony quipped.

"Look forward to it." Peter said.

"You hungry?"

"Famished." Peter replied.

"Good, cause I know this Schwarma place down the street…."

Later on that night, Peter was getting settled in his new room. He unpacked his clothes and put them in drawers and hung them in his closet. The last items he pulled out were picture frames, one of his Uncle Ben, one of both Ben and Aunt May, and then one of Gwen Stacey, which he looked at for a long time, then put in the drawer of his nightstand. He let out a breath and shook away his thoughts of her. He had to forget about her. He promised her father. Still, Gwen had been the first and only girl who ever made Peter feel like a person, like he mattered. As much as he felt for her, he knew it was only right to let her go. After all, he was Spiderman now, and an Avenger.

That thought made Peter look at the second bag on his bed. He tried to remember the last time he had worn his Spiderman suit. He walked up to the bag, unzipped it and pulled out the neatly folded suit, courtesy of his Aunt. His heart felt a pang as he wondered how she was faring without him.

"So that must be the famous suit." Stark said from the doorway. Peter turned and smiled.

"I can't believe it's been so long since I wore it." Peter replied.

"Well, now that you're working with us, get used to wearing it a lot." Tony said.

Peter sat on the bed with it in his hands. "I remember the first time I wore it. The feeling was…"

"Amazing?"

"Yeah. Like I was invincible, you know?" Peter looked at Tony. "Like nothing could touch me."

Tony smiled and nodded. "I know that feeling all too well." Then a thought came over him and he brightened up.

"Hey, what do you say we get our suits on and scope around town?" Tony asked. "Get you aquainted with your suit and skills again?"

Before Peter could reply, Tony called to Jarvis. "Jarvis, how's the weather tonight?"

"All good for flying, sir." the AI reported.

Peter looked around confused. "Wow…was that…?"

"My AI? Yeah, that's Jarvis. Built him myself." Tony replied.

Peter looked down at his suit. "Are you sure-?"

"Suit up kid. You wanna show me what you can really do? Now's your chance."

Two years. Two years and the feeling had never left Peter. As he effortlessly swung through the air, ran and crawled along from skyscraper to skyscraper, it was as though he truly felt himself again. He was never in his life as happy as he was at that moment.

"You all good, kid?" Stark called out, his Iron Man suit flying through the air, checking out the newbie's abilities and calculating his movements. He had to say it. This kid was really something in that suit.

Peter swung through the air until he landed on the pointy end of a really tall skyscraper. He looked down on the city.

"Not too shabby from this high up." Tony said.

Peter nodded. It really was a great night.

"How 'bout we race back?" Tony asked and with that, his suit revved up and he took off. Peter smiled and dove off the building, letting himself fall until he spewed out another stream of web and swung himself up, repeating the movements until he reached the tower, Tony already there.

"Wow. That was truly amazing." Peter exclaimed.

"You did good out there, kid." Tony remarked.

Peter crawled down from his landing and met Stark down on the podium. Little did they know of the figure that stood and watched them from a neighboring rooftop, taking notice of the young Parker and smiling.

**A/N-Not sure if this chapter is that great, but hey, this is for fun, right? Thanks for the continuing support. You guys are awesome. **

**Next chapter: Loki appears to the Avengers and causes a bit of mischief. Ehehehe…;)**


	7. Chapter 7

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: Thor deals with his guilt over Loki's return; Tony and Peter become acquainted with one another, both in and out of their suits. Now on to Chapter 7._

Chapter 7. Three months later.

"Stark, why must you get in the way of every shot I have?" Steve complained as the team came from yet another mission they were sent to by Fury.

"It's not my fault you're slow." Tony defended, as he stepped away from the pod as the last of his suit was removed. Not surprising to anyone, he went straight for the minibar.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I had that last guy just where I wanted him, and as usual, you have managed to sucker me out. What the hell is it with you anyway?"

"Ok, um, if memory serves correctly, you were surrounded by six of 'em and two were about to blow you to smithereens if yours truly had not come in." Tony poured his drink and took a swig. "Which, your welcome, by the way."

"I didn't need your help. In fact, I DON'T need your help, not now, not ever, got it?"

The tone in Steve's voice had everyone on alert then. The team had been used to their after-mission bickering, but now they knew that this was getting serious.

Bruce stepped in. "Ok, guys. What does it matter anyway? We won. We did it together."

Steve looked at Bruce coldly. "There is no 'team' with this guy."

Now it was Tony's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh, here we go. Captain "I hate it when Iron Man gets all the attention" Spangles here wants to throw it in my face that I take all his glory because he has a little trouble playing with others."

"Go to hell, Stark!" Steve yelled as Bruce tries to calm him down.

"Ok, what the hell is going on here?" Nick Fury's voice bellowed and everyone shot around looking at him.

Peter walked in the room then, coming from his room where he had changed from his suit and into some fresh clothes. He looked at the scene between Steve and Tony. "I miss something?" he asked quietly.

Tony downed his drink, ignoring the looks from Steve and poured himself another.

"I'm outta here!" Steve threw his hands up and walked out of the room, past Peter who watched him leave.

When Steve left, Bruce, Clint, Natasha, and Fury shot glares at Tony.

"Oh now c'mon! Quit looking at me like that. I literally save the guy's life and now I'm in trouble for it." Tony muttered.

"You're an ass." Natasha spouted, and she walked out of the room with Clint merely shrugging his shoulders and following.

Tony just raised his glass at her. "Thanks Nat. Always a pleasure."

"You don't know when to stop, do you?" Fury glared at Tony.

"Not the time, Cyclops." Tony replied, as he passed Fury and Peter and left the room as well.

Fury just sighed and turned to Peter. "You did great out there, Parker."

"Thanks." Peter replied, smiling meekly.

"So does that mean mission was successful?" Bruce asked, moving to stand next to Peter.

Fury nodded. "Yes, I think we've rounded the last of them. Looks like we'll be seeing the last of that particular tribe." Fury turned to leave, but then turned back. "Although some have gladly spilled their guts with some valuable information just as long as we keep the 'big green monster' away." He smirked then.

Bruce smiled. "Happy to help."

Fury nodded and left and Peter turned to Bruce.

"Is Steve ok?"

Bruce sighed and walked over to the minibar with Peter following. Bruce poured himself some vodka and looked up at Peter. "Coke?"

"Sure, thanks." Peter replied.

Bruce poured a glass of coke and slid it to Peter, who accepted it gratefully.

"Steve will be fine, once he destroys every punching bag he can get his hands on." Bruce lightly chuckled to himself.

"Do you think they really hate each other?" Peter asked.

Bruce shook his head and propped his elbows on the bar, taking a sip of his drink. "Nah. Deep down, they respect each other, but the personality clash is too much sometimes. Sometimes they can't get past their own egos."

Peter understood that. While he idolized Stark, he also knew that he had too large an ego. But he was Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, ph-shoot, Peter had already forgotten the rest.

"I am worried about Steve, lately though." Bruce spoke up, waking Peter from his thoughts. "This. All this. The time gap. I think it's really starting to get to him."

Peter nodded.

"I mean, imagine you're in a situation thinking you're going to die, accepting that fate, then you wake up and it's seventy years later. About three plus generations have passed and you're still stuck behind, mentally and physically." Bruce shook his head. "I don't know what I would do."

"So do you think that's why Tony pushes him so much? To make him break?" Peter asked, earning him a look from Bruce pushing him to clarify. "Like, trying to penetrate the gap?"

Bruce pondered this. "You know what, kid? You could be on to something there. I guess we'll have to wait and see." He finished his drink. "Just hope they don't kill each other in the process."

Peter agreed.

"_Brother, whatever I have done, however I have wronged you to make you do this, I am truly sorry."_

That was the last thing Loki heard before he opened his eyes. Staring up at the spinning ceiling fan, he groaned internally. He hated times like this. Boredom. Complete boredom. He was a prince on Asgard, a sorcerer, powerful, and while he still was powerful, he was now stuck on this insufferable planet. While he detested Midgard, he knew he could've been banished to worse realms. He _had _been to worse realms. He had seen things that even Odin never knew about.

He had remembered when Odin visited him in prison, the only time, and had grilled Loki endlessly on his whereabouts between the time he fell from the bi-frost and his time on Midgard. Loki would just sit there, looking in his father's pleading eyes and say nothing. He couldn't bear to tell anyone, let alone his father, what had happened to him during his time with the Chitauri.

Loki felt his whole body tense at the memory. With a sigh, he sat up from his bed. He walked to the bathroom and clicked the light on. He was dressed in dark sweatpants and a white tank top that still contrasted on his dreadfully pale skin. Standing in front of a mirror that showed the top part of his body from the waist up, he removed the shirt. The reflection had shown flawless skin at first, but then Loki closed his eyes and ran his hands flat down his front, revealing what looked like hundreds of scars covering every inch of his skin. Cuts marks, burn marks, whip marks, you name it, he had it. He had been grateful his father didn't have him stripped down. His magic had been bound in prison so he couldn't cover them. All because he had refused the Chitauri on their offer the first time. Yes, Loki hated Midgard, yes, he was angry with his father and brother, but even he had to admit that their plans were as monstrous as they came.

They had mutilated and tortured him for what seemed like an eternity. He had refused to tell them about Asgard and the Bi-frost, but their inquiries had mainly focused on the Tesseract. Loki put up so much resistance for so long that the Chitauri were ready to give up on him, to just kill and dispose of him, that is, until _he_ arrived.

Loki closed his eyes tightly shut as he remembered his first meeting with Thanos. Loki had craved death, and Thanos knew that. He could smell it all over him. But Thanos needed him. He worked Loki over for two whole days, only this time, mentally. By the time the Titan was done with him, Loki's resolve had all but diminished. In the end, Loki was on his knees, surrendering to Thanos and the Chitauri, hearing "_No Loki_…" over and over in his head as he was taken over with the same blue light that he had seen in Thanos' eyes.

Loki's thoughts were interrupted by sirens outside. Sighing, he waved his hands over his body and the scars instantly vanished from sight. It had been three months since he was banished to Midgard, and he had waited. Waited for them to come for him, to follow through on their promise to make him pay for his failure. But nothing. He had spent three months laying low, out of his brother's sight, only to be hiding from nothing. With a disgusted sigh, he put his shirt back on-why in Valhalla would they call these _wife beaters_?-and headed back to his room where he sat and made a glass of water appear in his hand. Another wave with his finger and the small TV set he had came on. With movements of his head, he went through many channels until he came to a news channel. Normally, the news did not interest him, but the group featured was a group he knew all too well.

"It appears the superhero group who call themselves The Avengers have added another member to their alliance. Even though his identity has remained anonymous, residents of this city remember him as Spiderman, who about a few years back, had saved the city from a potential infection created by Dr. Curt Connors-"

Loki didn't care for the reporter's words anymore, but his attention was drawn to the footage of Spiderman in action. Then it showed camera crews and reporters surrounding around Tony Stark as he approached Stark Industries inquiring about just whom Spiderman is. Stark did not tell them, but did confirm that yes, Spiderman was now part of the Avengers Intuitive.

Loki smiled at this. Yes, he had had his eye on this Spiderman and the group for quite some time. But then, maybe he had laid low long enough. Maybe it was time to really make his presence known, not to dominate the world, but to just…how did the Midgardians put it…._ruffle their feathers_ a bit? After all, it had been a long time since he had encountered any of them, and he had to admit, even though he had been mostly corrupted by the Tesseract, it was a bit of fun facing off with them, well, maybe except the huge green beast. Loki cringed at that memory.

He clicked the TV off and got up. He closed his eyes and within seconds, his meager Midgardian attire was changed into his Asgardian attire, the combination of green leather and metal that was most comfortable to him-sans the long horned hat. Checking over himself in the mirror, he smiled to himself.

"Time to go say hello to my old friends."

Walking outside, he felt free. He was no longer blending in with the mortals. He turned around to see his small apartment quickly morph into a wall. Being the most hated man on Earth, he did have to hide himself. Still, to most of the city folk walking up and down the streets, he was just another man walking past, but there were a few that looked at him strangely, even a couple that asked their companions, "Don't you think that looks like.." or "Oh my God, is that who I think it is?" and he saw one woman take out her phone and as she was about to dial, he smiled at her.

"I wouldn't do that."

She looked up at him in confusion, and when she looked back down at her phone, she saw it was now a dead rat she was holding in her hand. She screamed and dropped it.

Loki just laughed and carried on, walking down the street passed people who were all checking out their phones, wondering why they had all stopped working.

"Hey you!" a voice called out, and Loki had stopped. "Raise your hands and slowly turn around." A cop…how delightful.

Loki smiled and raised his hands. When he turned, he was met by a policeman, who had his hand on his gun, but only stared at the God with a fearful expression when he realized who he was.

"Is there something wrong, Officer?" Loki sneered as he kept his hands up, but casually strolled toward the man.

"I'm gonna need you to stop right there-" the officer warned, but was cut off when Loki vanished, only to appear right behind the cop.

The man turned quickly, but was met with a brutal hold at his throat, as those around them gasped and screamed in horror. He looked around them and smiled in sheer gratification as he watched them run or just stand there in shock. He then turned his attention to the man he was holding, watching him writhe in pain as Loki's hold on his throat tightened. He could instantly kill him, which Loki had no problem with initially, but then realized that doing so would be too easy for him. After all, if he were to be stuck on this pathetic planet, then it wouldn't be good for him to go around just killing people, for now anyway.

Still holding his grip, he peered down at the officer, who was looking up at him, his eyes pleading with the God. "You think you know fear? You think you know death? You don't." he seethed into the man's ear, then he looked down at his name tag. "Officer Greenwood, do you know what it's like to fear something so much that it drives you insane? To always look over your shoulder and have that fear taking over your life, your dreams, until there is no escape, even in death?" Loki then peered into the man's eyes. "I do."

Then with that, he let go and the officer fell to the ground like putty, coughing and shaking. Loki stared down at him for a moment, then turned his attention to the commotion going on in the street. Yes, he was back. As sirens were blaring in the distance, Loki immediately looked up in the sky. He muttered a chant under his breath and smiled dangerously, knowing full well who would be the first to see him.

Up in Asgard, Heimdall's eyes grew wide as his vision was suddenly filled with Loki, who seemed to be looking him right in the eyes, and then his vision had shifted to all the commotion he was causing. Heimdall wasted no time as he yelled to a guard.

"Summon the Prince, RIGHT AWAY!"

Peter knocked on Steve's apartment door. He had hoped he wasn't disturbing the Captain, especially with the mood he had been in earlier. As he was about to knock a second time, he could hear the chain being unhooked and the door opening.

"Peter, hi." Steve greeted.

"Hey." Peter replied.

"Is something wrong-?" Steve asked, and Peter could tell he was not used to many visitors.

"Uh, no. I was just out in the neighborhood and I thought I'd come by and see if you're ok." Peter responded meekly.

Steve looked at him and nodded. He didn't believe Peter's "in the neighborhood" explanation, but he kept that to himself. He motioned inside his apartment. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure." Peter said and walked in. He had never seen where the great Captain America lived and he could see now that his personality definitely differed from Stark when it came to living conditions. Steve's place was as simple as simple could get. There was a couch, a chair and a really small TV that sat in front on a stand and that was pretty much the living room.

"You want something to drink?" Steve asked.

"No, I'm good. Thanks." Peter replied.

Steve nodded. Peter had spotted a book Steve was reading sitting on the couch. He picked it up. _All Quiet on the Western Front._

"You ever read that?" Steve asked.

"I remember reading it in school once."

"It's as close to real war as you get in those days." Steve said, sitting down next to Peter on the couch.

"Do you still remember the war you were in?" Peter asked.

Steve sighed. "Like it was yesterday." then he looked around. "Only it wasn't."

"Listen, I know it must be tough on you, having to adjust to all this." Peter then laughed to himself. "Ok, maybe I don't know, but seriously, what you see around you, it's not all that different."

Peter then pulled something out of his pocket. "Here. I made this for you."

Steve looked at the tiny device Peter held strangely. "What is it?"

"It's an iPod. It plays music." Peter replied.

Steve looked at it as if it were gonna explode. Peter cracked a smile.

"See, I downloaded a bunch of music from your time and put it all on this thing. Here." he grabbed a set of earbuds and unraveled them, earning him another look of confusion from Steve. When Peter hooked them in, he gestured to Steve where the buds go. Steve stares at them for a moment, but then very carefully inserts the buds in his ears, making a face at how funny they feel.

"Ok, ready?" Peter asked.

Steve looked at him and nodded. Peter touched the tiny screen and then all of a sudden, a very loud, jazzy tune shot through his ears like a bullet and Steve about jumped a mile off the couch and quickly pulled the buds from his ears. His heart was racing and he looked up to see Peter laughing heartedly at Steve's reaction.

Steve let out some breaths to calm himself and Peter calmed his laughing as well. "You should've seen your face just now."

Steve glared at the kid, but then began to chuckle as well. "What in the hell was that?"

Peter stopped laughing long enough to explain. "Well, it was the music, but I guess I should've made sure the volume wasn't all the way up before I played it, sorry." He adjusted it then gestured for Steve to put the buds back in his ears. He gave Peter a look and Peter smiled. "It's safe this time, I promise."

Steve nodded and put the buds in his ears carefully.

"Ok, we'll start with something a bit more lighter. Here we go." Peter tapped on the screen and then a much softer tune played through the buds and Steve found it more pleasant this time around. It was also a song he remembered. A song that he would often hear when he and Bucky would meet at clubs. His heart ached at the memory of his best friend. In fact, his heart ached for a lot these days, but the music was more comfort than he had hoped for.

He pulled the buds out and looked at Peter. "Thank you. This is really nice."

Peter smiled. "It's really easy to use." He then took a few minutes to show Steve how it worked and gave him the battery charger that went with it as well.

Just then, the phone rang. Steve excused himself and went to pick it up. It was a simple old-style phone. Steve already had enough trouble understanding modern technology that SHEILD had provided him with the phone that only they called him on.

Peter was still adjusting Steve's iPod when Steve shot around to face him, a look of dread poured over his features.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"We've got trouble downtown." Steve replied, then swallowing before he said, "It's Loki."

**A/N: I know, I know, I promised you guys a confrontation between Loki and the Avengers in this chapter, but it's already long and I want to get it out. But never fear, I am already in the process of Ch. 8 and I promise to make it good. I just hope his mischief in this chapter is enough to hold you over til then. Thanks again to everyone for the continued support. You all make me very happy, and believe me, happiness is hard to come by these days. **


	8. Chapter 8

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: Egos clash between Tony and Steve, Peter gives Steve a gift, and Loki causes a bit of mischief in downtown New York once again. Now on to Chapter Eight._

Chapter Eight.

The rest of the team did not need to be told twice. Tony was in his suit before Jarvis could confirm it was running at 100% capacity, and Clint and Natasha were already en route downtown.

Police cars and Fire engines had blocked off most of the street. The crowds of people being held back by police were all too déjà vu to what had occurred just two years previous. Screams were heard as cars were being toppled on top of each other, moved by an unseen force. The police chief arrived, getting out of his car and angry as hell.

"What the hell is going on, Luteinant?" he bellowed.

"It seems he's back, sir." the other man answered.

"It seems WHO is back?"

The officer pointed up to the roof of a building. Loki was standing atop, strolling back and forth along the edge, peering down at the scene below him. He couldn't help but smile as he saw the sheer panic in all the pathetic mortals' faces. For the first time in a long time, Loki felt himself again. He was the God of Mischief, a monster. So why not behave like one?

"Oh my dear God, not again." the chief groaned.

Loki looked up as he heard helicopters approaching him and shook his head in annoyance. Would these mortals ever learn?

Waving both of his arms in a circular motion as a two dark green glows appeared and as the choppers approached, he swung both arms at once and shot the glows at them. The impacts knocked both choppers off balance and they quickly spiraled down towards the street. That was when Iron Man had flown through the air, catching the attention of the crowds and of course, Loki.

The crowds gasped as Iron Man flew towards the falling choppers and caught them both before they made a crash landing. He landed and set them both down with loud thuds and then he quickly flew back up and landed on the roof, Loki glaring at him.

"So, we meet again, Reindeer Games. To what do we owe the pleasure this time?" Stark chided, flipping his mask up so the God could look him in the face.

Loki's glare held, but his lips stretched into a crooked smile as he continued to pace back and forth. "Well, if it isn't the great Tony Stark…late as usual. I was beginning to think you would never show."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Tony replied.

Loki laughed. "Quite the contrary, mortal."

Stark began to walk towards Loki. "So what is this? I'm beginning to think you must be some kind of masochist, or else why would you come unless you were looking for another beating."

Loki looked around. "So where are the rest of your friends? I was rather hoping for a whole group reunion." He then stared intently at Stark. "or were you just looking to die first?"

"Aint happening, sweetheart." Tony glared back. "You might as well just give it up now."

Loki smiled again. He curled his fist up into a ball. "But it's rather early."

Then before Tony could blink, Loki uncurled his fist and shot a golden light in his direction. Tony managed to dodge it at the last second, but hit the ground with a painful thud.

He rolled over and took a shot at the God, who managed to clone himself and disappear in a cloud of dark smoke as the shot passed right through it. Stark looked at it confused, but the real Loki stepped in front of him and he was about to shoot him again, but Loki was stopped by an array of bullets that pierced right through him, blood splattering as he stumbled backwards, finally falling over a bump and hitting the floor.

Natasha put the gun to her side belt and ran to Tony. "You ok?"

Tony looked up at her. "Oh goody, it was you." he muttered as she helped him up.

"You're welcome, too, you ass." Natasha replied.

Tony was about to retort, when they heard laughter behind them. Natasha and Tony shot around to see Loki standing up, dusting himself off, but still limping a bit. But the bullet holes were gone, with only a couple holes left still healing themselves. He looked up at them and turned his head, spitting out the mouthful of bullets that he had coughed up, spitting out blood in the process.

"Oh, fantastic." Tony muttered. Natasha just glared at Loki angrily.

Loki's laughter grew more sadistic as he returned Natasha's glare. "I must say, I am really impressed with your aim, Ms. Romanoff. However, even someone as intelligent as yourself should know that a mere mortal cannot kill a God."

"But this one can!" Clint yelled from behind and as Loki turned to face him, he was greeted with an arrow coming towards him. The arrow instead shot through black smoke, but it quickly turned and headed in Loki's new direction. Just as before, Loki caught it out of thin air, but instead of it blowing up in his hand, it disappeared with a motion of his hands.

"What the-" Clint muttered, but was silenced by an invisible hold around the throat and was flipped through the air, where he landed hard on the ground.

"Shoot him!" Natasha screamed and she grabbed her gun, but it was instantly flung from her hands and Tony's suit was malfunctioning so his hand lasers didn't work. They then found themselves frozen and unable to move and fell to the ground.

"Well, this guy has got a full bag of tricks, doesn't he?" Tony spat as he and Natasha struggled against the hold. Natasha's attention, however, was turned to Clint, who was writhing helplessly on the ground as Loki sauntered up to him.

"Clint!" Natasha yelled. "Don't you touch him, you bastard!"

Loki peered over at her and smiled. He then looked down at Clint and tilted his head, but not before stepping a foot on his collarbone, restricting Clint's breathing further. "As callous as this may sound, I much preferred you when you were under _my_ control." He smiled, then added, "but looking back now, I should've just killed you in the beginning. A lot of good you did me in the end." He spat, though disgusted.

Clint was struggling for breath, but he shot a hateful glare at Loki. Just then, the skies turned black and thunder clapped the sky. Loki stepped off of Clint and his grip on him loosened a bit, but it was still there. Loki looked up and smiled bigger. The rains came down hard and huge lightning bolts touched down as Thor shot down and plowed down on the roof. He took a quick survey of the situation and glared angrily at his brother.

"What took you so long?" Loki sneered, still smiling.

"Why?" Thor growled.

Loki made a mock frown. "Oh, you really didn't think that a mere two years in that cell would make me as _soft_ as you, now did you?" He then grinned and peered in his brother's fiery eyes. "Truly brother, you are as dense as you are gullable!" The last sentence came out like a growl and before Loki knew it, Thor had gripped his Mjollnir and charged his brother, hitting him with such force that both fell from the roof and crashed hard into the street below.

That was when the bonds that held the three on the roof had been broken. Tony and Natasha got up quickly, but Clint was slow moving. Nastasha ran to him.

"Are you ok?" she asked, looking him over. Clint got his breathing under control, but jerked himself away from Natasha, who looked at him confused.

"I'm fine." he answered curtly, then snatched up his bow and walked over to the edge where Tony was watching the scene below.

Loki moved to get up from the demolished spot his body had caused, but Thor was faster. He got up, grabbed Loki by the throat and threw him with a yell as he hit the ground and rolled. Thor summoned his Mjollnir and it flew into his hands as he walked up to Loki, who was lightly chuckling when Thor grabbed him up by the collar and moved Loki to face him, but was hit in the face by a cloud of black dust. Thor knew all too well what it was. It was a substance used among sorcerers to temporarily suspend an Asgardian's strength and power, basically rendering them as weak as mortals.

It was working because Thor dropped his Mjollnir and out of blindness, he dropped to his knees. Loki got up from the ground and smiled to himself when he saw his dust working.

"Oh, this is bad." Tony spouted, but tried to shoot at Loki to no avail. "That hold he had on us must've corrupted my whole system." He then moved away, yelling to Jarvis.

Natasha moved to reach out to Clint again, but he flinched again. He grabbed her hand and moved it away. "Please, don't."

Loki moved to advance over Thor, who's eyes were still blinded. Despite the rain, Thor had difficulty getting the dust out.

"As I said earlier brother, I'm not as soft as you!" Loki then grabbed Thor and with his fists in his collar, he picked him up and threw him into a building through the glass doors. The crowd screamed.

Loki stared at them, then stared up at the roof, smiling. Just then, out of nowhere, he hears a shout and before he could react, he was hit by a familiar looking shield. The crowd cheered as Loki was knocked backwards and landed with a painful grunt on the ground. He looked up to see Captain America flying down and jumping from the back of another, whom also looked rather familiar to Loki. The Captain landed on his feet and caught his shield mid-air. Loki moved to get up, though it was more slowly this time. He could feel his powers beginning to drain from the beatings he took and his exhaustion. Using as much strength as he could muster, he managed to stand up and glare at Steve. "Forgive me for noticing, but it seems you are rather fashionably late, aren't you, Mr. Universe?"

"Maybe." Steve answered. "But it seems to me that you are, once again, out of time."

Loki laughed at this. He looked around. "So where's this…_Spiderman_ I've been hearing so much about?" He then looked at the Captain. "Surely he should be introduced."

"Now that you mention it, I was thinking the same thing." a voice behind him called out. Loki turned to see Spiderman standing there, his stance ready and waiting for Loki to make a move.

Loki smiled devilishly at him. "Well well…"

The Captain and Spiderman prepared to make their moves, but were interrupted by the sound of a Hellicarrier hovering above them and locking their weapons on Loki. The God looked defeated and raised his hands, intently locking his gaze to Peter.

"He's surrendering!" Steve yelled.

Peter just continued to stare at Loki, who had his hands raised, but Peter could see his lips moving. Peter had been told Loki was powerful and possessed sorcerer abilities.

"It's a trick!" Peter yelled.

Loki finished his cantation and within seconds, he had disappeared.

Steve ran up and stood in the spot Loki was just standing in. "Oh great!"

Something had radioed in to Steve. With a sigh, Steve answered, "We lost him."

**A/N: So there you have it folks, another chapter written and an epic confrontation with The Avengers and Loki. Sorry it did not include much of Peter, but don't fret. Peter will get his time and he will also have bigger fish to fry pretty soon. Plus, it is horribly late and I must get my beauty sleep for work tomorrow. (yes…I work on a holiday. ****L) **

**Also, I know I wrote Loki fighting a tad more dirty in this, but that's because I love it when he is just so badass. I also loved doing that bit with him and Hawkeye. Yep…stirring something up there. *wink wink***

**I know I know, I didn't put the Hulk in, but there was no time to put him in, but I promise an EPIC scene from him soon. **

**Ps. It was my first time writing a fight scene, so please, be kind. Lol. But regardless, I had a lot of fun doing it. As always, thank you again to everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted, or have done all three. I appreciate each and every one of you.**


	9. Chapter 9

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: The Avengers confront Loki, who responds with a full bag of tricks. Now on to Chapter 9. _

Chapter 9.

The team assembled back at Stark Tower. Everyone except Thor, who after some time, regained the use of his power and was out scouring the town for his brother, despite Tony telling him that might be a lost cause since he _disappeared_ out of thin air. Thor's response was pushing Tony hard against the wall and telling him to steer clear of him. Despite his anger at the God, Tony backed down, only because he knew that Thor was capable of crushing his skull without so much as breaking a sweat.

Besides Thor, everyone's pride was pretty much hurt. The city was pretty much in an uproar over the day's events and Clint did not follow Natasha back to the Tower. Except for Steve and Peter, the team had taken quite a beating from Loki. They had to admit, Loki was a much stronger foe this time around.

"Can you believe that bastard?" Tony yelled as he slammed his freezer shut and placed an ice pack to the back of his neck. "That suit was one of my best ones. It's just a hunk of junk now!"

"Oh I'm so glad you're worried about your precious metal suit!" Natasha spat at him, an ice pack applied to her knee as Tony sat at the table across from her.

"Look toots, that suit was made by _me_, with time taken to make it by _me_, and was paid for by _me_, so excuse _me_ for being just a bit sentimental." Tony snapped back.

"God, you're pathetic!" Natasha muttered, shooting Tony a disgusted glare.

Tony raised his eyebrows and was about to fire back when Steve held his hands up. "Ok, ok…enough, both of you!" Tony and Natasha both glared at Steve, but each took a deep breath and just stared each other down.

Peter sat at the table as well, trying to absorb what he had seen downtown. He couldn't shake his mind from Loki, the way the God stared him down before he disappeared. He was angry, not only because Loki vanished, but because he felt so helpless. Here he was sitting without so much a scratch, while Tony, Natasha, Clint, and Thor all suffered the repercussions from their confrontation with the trickster. He had gotten there too late, and even though no one was blaming him, he couldn't shake the guilt he was feeling. He was not nearly fast enough. Here he was offered a spot in the Avengers and he couldn't be there to help his teammates in time. Some superhero he was.

"Hey, you ok?" Steve asked him, concern drawn on his face, as if he had been sensing what was on his mind.

"Yeah I'm fine." Peter muttered as he rose up from his chair and silently stalked out of the room.

Tony pointed at his direction. "What's with him?"

"I think he's feeling guilty." Steve said with a sigh.

Tony scoffed. "The kid should feel lucky. If he were fighting Reindeer Games, he probably would have ended up in ribbons."

Steve looked at him disgusted. "You're a jerk, you know that?"

Tony gave him a mock smile. "So I've been told."

Steve just scoffed and shook his head.

"You know.." Tony spoke up, flipping his ice pack in his hands and glaring at Steve. "I don't blame that kid. He's great, don't get me wrong, but he is new. But you, my friend, are _not _so new. You mind telling me what the hell kept you while we were all getting our asses handed to us?"

"Are you blaming _me_ for this?" Steve shot out.

"Well, let's see, you pretty much showed up just when the curtain closed." Tony snapped. "So…yeah."

"Peter and I got there as fast as we could!" Steve defended.

"Apparently not _fast_ enough!"

"Loki disappeared, Tony!" Steve shouted.

"Well, how convenient for you!" Tony spat.

This time, Steve was angry. He slammed his hand down on the table, with enough force to even startle Natasha. He shot up, ready to kill Tony. Tony wasn't backing down this time. He rose up to.

"You wanna do this, Spangles?" he taunted and walked right up to Steve until they were nose to nose. "You know, I am so sick of hearing how great you are. You wanna know what I think? I'll tell you. While everyone here thinks you're God's gift to the universe, I think that inside, you're still that scared little puny kid getting rejected from every recruiter and getting his ass kicked in alleyways on a daily basis. You're a coward, Rogers, and no matter how much serum they pump you with, you always will be!"

The next ten seconds was a complete blur as Tony ended up being knocked from one end of the room to another. Even Natasha screamed. Tony groaned as he moved from the floor. Steve stood there, breathing hard as he stared down at his fist, which was already bruised and swollen. Natasha sat frozen, staring from Steve to Tony, too shocked to move.

Things stayed this way for a few minutes until Fury and Coulson walked into the room. "Ok, do I even ask what the hell is going on here?" Fury growled angrily, as he surveyed the scene.

Tony was spitting out blood and ignoring Fury, as usual and Natasha was still too stunned to speak. Steve was staring at Fury, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was,

"I quit."

Fury's one eye went wide and Coulson sucked in a breath. Natasha shook her head at Steve, but he ignored her as he grabbed his jacket and stormed out, passed Coulson, who stood there staring in disbelief. He wanted to chase after Steve, but he knew Steve was too angry to talk rationally at the moment.

But Peter was not so logical. He had listened to everything that was going on from the stairwell. He ran after Steve as Steve stormed out of the tower and down the street,

"Steve! Wait!" he yelled after him, but Steve was not listening. He kept walking.

"Steve! Hold on, you can't quit." Peter was running and managed to catch up to him. "We need you."

Steve didn't stop walking. "I'm out, kid. I-I can't take this anymore. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave too."

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You don't mean that!"

Steve stopped then, causing Peter to almost trip hitting the brakes on his steps. Steve was staring down, avoiding Peter's stare.

"Listen, you don't know what I've lost for this. I lost who I am, my best friend," then he added with almost a whisper, "..Peggy." He then looked up at Peter after a few seconds of silence, and Peter was taken aback to see tears trickling down his face. "I'm drowning, kid. Tony was right. I don't have it anymore."

"No Tony was not right!" Peter snapped, but Steve could see the pleading in his eyes. "There are a lot of people out there who believe in you, _I_ believe in you."

Steve stared at Peter for a moment, then wiped the tears from his face. "Goodbye, kid." And with that, he walked away. Peter just stood where he was. He knew Steve had made up his mind. Everything around him was a blur as he felt himself crumble from all the emotions washing through him. He had fought to hold back his own tears, but to no avail. As he saw Steve walking and then disappearing around the corner, he stood there and let the dam fall.

**A/N-Sorry it's such a short chapter, but I had this in my head all day at work and had to get it out before I had to retire for the evening. A lot of tensions I know, and believe me, it was hard to even hold my own tears as I wrote the last part. But don't fret, my pets, I will have an awesome new chap up soon and I think it will entail Peter's emotional struggles as he comes to terms with his guilt and in doing so, confronts Loki on his own. **

**So, this is where I could use some suggestions. Believe me, I have my own ideas, but I am really interested in hearing what my readers think. How would you guys envision a confrontation between Loki and Spiderman? **

**Until next time…;)**


	10. Chapter 10

The Amazing Avenger.

**A/N-Thank you to everyone who reviewed and gave some awesome Loki vs. Spiderman suggestions. ****J They were all really awesome ideas and I will take each and every one of them in consideration in future chapters. A very special thank you goes to Kaisaan Greenleaf for their neverending support in this story since I started. But all the same, I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.**

**Oh-and I know you all were quite shocked with how I left the last chapter where Steve is concerned. But don't fret my pets…there is a purpose in everything I do. ;) Steve will be alright…trust me.**

_Recap: Peter struggles with his guilt over the battle with Loki; tensions come to a rolling boil between Tony and Steve and Steve walks away from SHEILD and The Avengers. Now on to Chapter 10. _

_Chapter 10._

"Peter!" Aunt May exclaimed when she opened the door and saw her nephew standing on the porch, smiling weakly at her and soaking wet from the pouring rain.

"Hi Aunt May." he said softly, as he walked in and she immediately hugged him with all her might, despite the wetness. She had been worried sick ever since she had first seen the news when Loki had attacked downtown Manhattan once again. Words couldn't express the overwhelming relief and happiness she had felt having Peter in her arms again.

When they finally broke apart, she looked at his face. She knew immediately something was wrong with him. But looking him over, she decided that could wait.

"Goodness, you're drenched. You go and get out of these wet clothes and dry up, and I will make you some tea and hot soup. Now go." The tone in her voice told Peter she was not one to be argued with and with a smile, he complied. He knew he had some spare clothes in his old room.

May quickly went into the kitchen and put the kettle on. Peter came out ten minutes later, with dry clothes on and drying his hair with a towel.

"You just sit down at the table and I will bring you out your soup, and don't you dare tell me you're not hungry because I notice you have lost weight." she called out from the kitchen and Peter chuckled at the comment.

"I'm famished, Aunt May." he called back, still smiling.

"Good." she called. "'cause I made you a sandwich, too!" And as she said that, Peter held up his hands indicating that was what he was expecting her to say.

She came in a few minutes later with a small tray and set it in front of him. He smiled his thanks at her and took a sip of his tea. She sat down with her own cup and looked at him.

"I've missed you." she said.

"Me too."

She then looked at the TV in the other room, which was playing the news coverage of what occurred in downtown NY. "Has he been found yet?"

Peter shook his head, taking a bite of his sandwich. "He completely disappeared."

"I saw that."

Peter scoffed, sitting back in his chair, staring at his food as if it were alien. "Yeah, and I'm sure everyone is talking about how I stood there like an idiot and watched him."

May reached her hand out and patted his arm. "There was nothing you could've done, Peter."

"Yeah, tell that to the Captain." Peter replied, looking away from his aunt as he could feel his emotions stir up again.

May didn't remove her hand from his arm. "What's going on, Peter?"

Peter kept his face away, he couldn't look at her. All he could feel was his guilt. May silently got up and sat in the chair next to him and turned his face toward hers, and his tears spilled.

"It's my fault, Aunt May." he said.

May shook her head, stood up, and wrapped her arms around him and he responded by clutching to her as he began to cry, letting out all the pain and the fear that he had let down his team, the anger at Loki, and the grief of what he had heard happening from the stairwell and seeing Steve walk away. The team was falling apart and he was watching it, but didn't know how to help fix it, or even if he could.

May held him until he had cried all his tears away, and when he was done, she sat back down next to him and he told her everything that had happened, starting from when he had first arrived at Stark Tower to Steve quitting the Avengers. As Peter told his story, he himself had become aware of what he had experienced. Despite all that has happened, the past three months had been the best months of his whole life. Whether it be working on the Iron Man suits with Tony, having target practices with Clint and Natasha, Clint showing him how to use his bow, and Natasha teaching him to use a gun, even Coulson joining in at times, jabbing at punching bags with Steve at the gym, having long chats with Bruce in the lab, and even eating boxes of pop tarts with Thor as the blond god regaled him with long tales of battles and his life in Asgard, even ones with Loki, which Peter could see a glimmer of sadness in his eyes when he did speak of his brother, this team of heroes were some of the greatest people he would ever know.

When they did fight, they fought together as a team. The only friction was the rift between Steve and Tony. Peter only wished he could understand why Tony resented Steve so much.

"Clint. Clint, open this door!" Natasha yelled as she pounded on his door. "I know you're in there."

Natasha was seriously worried about him. She had practically blown up his phone and texted him literally fifty times and each time, he had ignored her. Well, she was done with being ignored.

"Clint, I'm going to give you one last chance to open this door." she said with an even, but trained tone. "If it's not open in five seconds, I will force it open."

True to her word, she grabbed her gun from her holster and aimed it at the lock. "One, two, th-"

Her counting had been interrupted by the sound of the chain being unlatched and the door opening. Clint stood, leaning against the doorframe, shaking his head at Natasha, who was putting her gun back in her holster.

"Yeah I knew you weren't bluffing." he said with a half-smile. She rolled her eyes at him and darted passed him into the apartment before he could invite her. As if she ever waited for an invitation before.

"What the hell is with you, Clint?" she asked him, darting around to face him as he closed the door behind him.

"I've been busy." he muttered as he went back to cleaning his bow. Natasha knew that's what he did when he was either troubled or something was on his mind.

"That's bull and you know it!" she snapped. "You've been this way ever since Loki-" and she stopped when she saw him visibly tense at the name.

"You know, Loki got the best of all of us, Clint." Natasha told him.

Clint said nothing, he just kept wiping his bow in his lap, though Natasha could see that he was wiping the same spot over and over. She doubted if he was even looking at it.

"He can't control you anymore, you know." she then said, in a softer tone this time. "He doesn't have that power anymore."

"No." Clint replied. "But he sure knows how to take us down, doesn't he?"

"That's not true." Natasha said.

"Oh no?" Clint asked, and then took his bow and placed it on the counter. "Did Steve not quit the team?"

"How do you know that?" Natasha asked, her brow furrowed.

"Coulson told me." Clint replied, to which Natasha looked down, her mind suddenly brought back to what happened just hours earlier at Stark Tower. She still couldn't believe Steve had lost control the way he did, though she didn't blame him in the least. Stark had had that coming for a long time.

"So Stark finally pushed him, huh?" Clint commented, as if he knew what she was thinking. "How bad was it?"

"It was definitely something you should've been there to see." she answered him with a slight smirk.

Clint chuckled softly. "I admit I am sorry I missed it."

"So why don't you tell me why you acted that way to me on the roof." Natasha told him, her tone serious.

Clint looked up at her then. "Forget it, ok?"

"No. I won't." she replied, walking up to him until she stood right in front of him. Looking him right in the eyes, she asked, "Are you afraid of him?"

He clenched his jaw and scrunched his eyes at her, as though she had spit at him, but she kept her stare at him still. "What the hell are you talking about?" he retorted, his tone cold, but she knew better.

"It's ok if you are, Clint." she told him, but he scoffed at her and turned his back toward her, shaking his head.

"Why in the hell would you even ask me that?" he said.

"Because I know you." she replied softly. "I know what he did to you."

Clint just looked down and shook his head. "No, you don't."

Natasha walked up behind him and Clint could feel her steps. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw harder.

"Yes, I do." she told him and she wrapped her arms around him, her hands resting flat on his chest as she laid her cheek on his back.

Clint tensed at her touch at first, but then surrendered when she tightened her grip, as if she anticipated his resistance. He took her hands and turned around, meeting her gaze.

"It felt like it was happening all over again." he said in almost a whisper, but Natasha heard him.

She held him then. "I know. He scared me too."

"You know, it's not good to mix aspirin with bourbon." Bruce commented behind Tony as he sat in his lab, trying to open the plastic bottle, but sometimes being intoxicated can limit your ability to perform even the simplest tasks.

"Whoever decided it was a good idea to put childproof locks on these things should be maimed and killed." Tony half-slurred as he finally slammed the bottle down in defeat.

Bruce shook his head and went and opened the bottle with a turn of his wrist. He placed it back in front of Tony, who stared at the bottle like he was mentally trying to stare a hole through it. He then looked up at Bruce. "Thanks." he mumbled as he grabbed the bottle and dropped a few in his hand.

Bruce walked around the table until he got a good glimpse at Tony's face. He hissed and made a face when he saw the result of Steve's handiwork. "Jesus. Have you put ice on that?"

Tony scoffed and swallowed his aspirin dry. "Yes, doctor."

"Maybe you should see one." Bruce said as he walked up to Tony and turned his chin around so he could get a better look at the rather large purple bruise splashed on his upper cheek. His upper lip was also split pretty good and swollen. "You might have a concussion."

"It's nothing a few more of these can't fix." Tony grumbled, holding up his glass.

"I thought you never drank in the lab." Bruce said with a sigh. "Kinda self destructive, don't you think?"

"It's the only place where no one bothers me." Tony answered. "Well, except for Jarvis." He then looked at Bruce. "Excluding you, of course."

"What happened, Tony?" Bruce asked.

"You mean Cyclops didn't already give you the skinny?" Tony sniped as he slid from his stool and stumbled his way over to the sink, where he poured himself a cup of water and downed it. He was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. Maybe he did have a slight concussion after all.

"Yes, they did. I was on a Helicarrier on Ellis Island when I heard of what happened downtown. We were on lockdown, so I couldn't get off. But I want to hear it from you." Bruce replied.

Tony chuckled. "Oh you missed quite a show, my friend. Reindeer Games was just full of fun and excitement this time around." He refilled the cup and took another long drink. "Maybe it was a good thing you weren't there, might've turned you into a puppy or something."

"So I heard, but I meant what happened between you and Steve." Bruce said.

Tony was silent then. He poured the remainder of his water down the drain and let it drop from his hand as he sighed. "It happened the way you heard."

"So you finally had to break him."

Tony turned and faced Bruce, perhaps a little too fast because he had a couple of seconds of dizziness before his vision repositioned itself.

"Look, I already got reamed by Fury and Coulson and even Miss Princess Hardass, so why don't you do me a favor and just save it, ok?"

"I'm just trying to get-" Bruce was saying before he was cut off by Tony.

"Why don't you just ask Captain Sensitive?" Tony remarked.

"I would if I could find him." Bruce told him. "We've already been looking, he's not at his apartment, nor has he been at any of his regular places."

Tony was quiet for a moment, then walked back to his stool.

"I didn't tell him to quit."

"But you sure had a good hand in helping him make that decision." Bruce replied.

"Oh please, I didn't tell him anything he didn't already know!" Tony snapped.

"What is it with you, huh?" Bruce asked, his voice raising as he took control of his already rising anger.

"I don't need this, Bruce." Tony mumbled, his head dropped in his hand.

Bruce took a breath. "Why do you feel the need to alienate anyone who finds it in them to even give a quarter of a damn about you?"

When Tony stayed silent, Bruce just shook his head and turned to leave the lab. He knew he wasn't getting anywhere with him at that time.

"You better get some more ice for that face." he stated as he walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Tony winced at the impact, then went and grabbed his glass bottle of bourbon, swigging the golden brown liquid around. Then, maybe it was from the alcohol or his massive headache or both, but he began to feel violently ill as the contents of his stomach began to rise up to his throat and he rushed over to the sink and purged.

Peter came out of his old room, tip toeing through the dark as to not disturb Aunt May, who was fast asleep on the couch, the TV on the news, as usual. He softly walked over to the coffee table, picked up the remote and muted the TV volume. He then walked over and gently kissed her on the forehead before he covered her completely with her favorite afghan. He looked at her for a couple minutes, then walked over and grabbed his jacket and as quiet as he could, left the house.

He walked down to the bus stop, putting his jacket on and zipping it up, flipping the hood on. When the bus pulled up, he got on and sat in the back, next to the window. Once he sat down, he sighed and laid his head back against the seat, trying to get his mind in a calm state before he got back to Stark Tower. He had planned to get back pretty late, pretty sure Tony was already drunk and passed out by now. He really wasn't in the mood to face him yet. The bus driver announced to the passengers that he had to detour because of the wreckage downtown, and everyone groaned.

Peter propped his elbow on the window and rubbed his eyes. Despite just having woken up, he was still tired. All he wanted to do was get back to the tower and sleep some more.

That's when he saw him. In the middle of his eye rubbing, he caught the gaze of a familiar figure smiling at him as the bus passed.

"Son of a bitch…" he shot up and pulled the stop cord. "Stop please!" he almost yelled, startling his neighbors in the back.

The driver groaned, but stopped anyway, the doors opening and Peter jumped out, looking down in the direction where he spotted Loki. Of course, he wasn't there anymore. Peter ran toward the area, his eyes wandering everywhere. He was pretty sure he wasn't just seeing things, though he hoped that wasn't the case. He had scoured the area until he looked up and saw him again, only this time, he was on a roof once again.

Wasting no time, Peter ran and was about to shoot out a web, but caught himself seeing as he wasn't wearing his suit. Instead, he ran all the way out of everyone's line of sight around the side of the building and immediately jumped on the side, climbing up quickly and making a leap until he landed on the roof.

He saw nothing once he was up there, but he knew Loki would only be trying to trick him. He walked slowly along the side where he had seen him, keeping his eyes and ears open and his senses intact.

"You seem to be determined to find me." Loki sneered, as Peter turned and faced him. "I almost thought you didn't recognize me."

"Oh I know who you are." Peter replied, glaring at the Norse God.

Loki smiled. "I'm awfully sorry to have had to step out early during our last encounter. Seems it took more than I thought to wrangle up your petty mortal friends."

"Seems like you were scared to me." Peter scoffed at him.

Loki laughed at that comment. "Scared of humans? That's quite amusing."

"Tell that to the one who literally wiped the floor with you." Peter shot back, and Loki's laughter died down a bit.

"Ah, the monstrous beast…it's really too bad he couldn't make our little reunion. I would've loved to…how do you Midgardians put it? 'Catch up'?"

"I'm sure he would've liked that." Peter retorted. "But I think you and I should get to know each other better, don't you?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Loki said, his smile returning as he shot out a green glow from his hand, but Peter was ready, already anticipated this move. He leaped clear over Loki's head and stuck on the side of the building next to them.

Loki spun around and glared at Peter. "Impressive." he stated.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, buddy." Peter called out and with that, shot out a web swung down until he met the god and knocked him down, Loki hitting the floor. Peter hit the ground and spun around, only to be met by Loki hard hard right backhand. Peter grunted from the impact and moved to get away, but Loki planted a foot on his back, keeping him in place.

"Stupid mortal" Loki chastised, but Peter struggled from his hold and shot another web at a slab of concrete that wrapped itself around and he pulled it all the way toward them until it hit Loki, freeing Peter from his foot and falling backwards to the ground.

Peter quickly made his way up and turned to look down at the fallen god. "Is that all you got?"

Laughing, Loki got up, but before he could react, Peter was on him. He ran and kicked him hard, knocking the taller man backwards and throwing a hard punch towards him, but Loki blocked it and sent Peter flying through the air with another hard backhand, this time making it hurt. Before Peter could recover, Loki appeared in an instant right on top of him and grabbed the young man by the throat.

"Is that all _you_ got?" he taunted.

Peter struggled under the god, but Loki's weight and strength was too much for him.

"You can kill me," Peter gasped out. "but soon they'll find you, won't they?"

Loki's amused sneer turned into a hard glare.

"T-that's right." Peter coughed. "They'll come for you and soon you'll have more to worry about than just us petty mortals!"

Loki's glare turned dark then and his grip around Peter's neck became tighter. Peter fought as long as he could, but soon his airway was completely blocked, causing him to drift away. The last thing he could see was Loki's cold stare as he faded to black.

**There you go guys. Another chapter. J Sorry it took a little while, but hey, life happens. I really hope the Loki/Peter confrontation was good for you guys. Like I said, I have plans for these two. **

**So I was in the shower today and I got a totally awesome idea for Loki's storyline, which will involve a character who is not in the movies, (as of yet anyway) but is known in the Marvel world. (I'll never tell…) hee hee…I am soooo excited. Can't wait to write it! It will be someone from Loki's past…**

**Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers. YOU GUYS ARE MY INSPIRATION! (Oh, and to the "guest" who sent me a review with the song, "Baby come back", you, my friend made my day! That was hilarious….and a great idea for a future slash story.) ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

The Amazing Avenger.

_Recap: Peter pays a visit to his aunt and confronts Loki in a one on one showdown, Bruce also visits Tony, who is feeding his concussion with alcohol, and Natasha tracks down Clint at his apartment. Now on to Chapter 11._

Chapter 11.

"Kid! Hey kid!"

Peter's eyes flutter open, his vision blurry before they adjust on a man staring down at him, his eyes scrunched up with confusion and concern.

"What in God's name happened to you, kid?" the man, who looked like a handyman, hissed at him as Peter groaned and slowly moved to sit up.

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice coming out in croaks as he moved his hand up to his throat. His neck was sore, and the side of his face throbbed. He couldn't see, but he knew he had a bruise there.

"You're on a roof, son." the man replied.

That's when it hit him. The roof. Peter shot up and looked around, much to the man's surprise. Loki had been there. They were fighting, Loki had hit him really hard and was choking him and-"

Peter looked up at the man. "Did you see another man up here with me?"

The man looked at him funny, then shook his head. "No, I barely found you here five minutes ago." He then looked Peter over, his gaze coming up to the side of his face. "Did someone do that to you?"

Peter looked around, confused himself, but shook his head at the man and pushed himself up off the ground. "Forget it."

He stood up and walked over to where the ladder was and started to climb down, seeing the man still looking at him. "Thanks." Peter told him and with that, he jumped off and landed on the ground on his hands and feet and with that, he began to run all the way to Stark Tower.

When he finally arrived, he entered and before he went up the stairs to where his room was, he stopped in front of a mirror that was in the hallway and looked at himself. The man on the roof had not been seeing things. He had a bluish black mark and a small gash along the side of his eye socket and the corner of his eye was bloodshot with a small blood splash filling up the area. He softly touched it, and winced at the sensitivity. Groaning, he lifted his head up to examine his sore throat. It wasn't bruised, but it was red. Cocking his head to the side, Peter could see an inking of what looked like fingertips on his skin.

He suddenly heard the sounds of voices and footsteps approaching, so Peter quickly pulled his hood over his head and was about to dart up the stairs when he heard the voice of Fury behind him.

"Parker."

Peter stopped and closed his eyes. Without turning to look at him, he answered, "Yeah?"

"We have been trying to reach you on your phone."

Peter scrunched his eyes. He patted down his pants and back pockets, along with his jacket pockets. He found his earbuds, but his phone was missing. He closed his eyes again. Great. It must've fallen out during the fight on the roof and he left it up there. Remembering the mass puddles that were there from the rain, it was probably damaged anyway by now.

He sighed and turned slightly, but not completely so Fury couldn't see his face. He was not in the mood to answer questions about what happened to him, or to tell them he went after Loki himself and didn't call them the moment he spotted him, which was what he had been instructed to do after the god's re-appearance.

"I'm sorry, I think I might've lost it." Peter said meekly.

Fury just glared for a moment before he spoke. "Well, there is a meeting in twenty minutes in the conference room. I suggest you be there."

"Ok." was Peter's quick reply before he darted upstairs perhaps a little too fast.

He got in his room and shut the door behind him. He immediately went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, setting the temperature as high as it would go. Despite how sore he felt, after the adrenaline died down, he couldn't shake the shivers of spending the night on the roof of a building unconscious in the cold all night. When the bathroom had steamed up, he peeled off his clothes and stepped in, letting the hot water hit his worn out body as he rested his forehead on the marble tile wall.

While the events of the night before had been a blur for him, one thing picked at his mind that he couldn't figure out. Why was he still alive? Loki had him, had him down and was choking the life out of him. He had seen it in his face, his eyes full of hate and seething anger, especially when Peter mentioned the Chitauri coming for him. Peter had thought for sure Loki would kill him, and he certainly felt like it when he was being strangled, but somehow, he was still alive. Had Loki _mistaken_ him as being dead when he passed out? Or had he at the last moment _allowed_ Peter to live? Peter wished he knew.

As Peter washed and got out, wrapping a towel around his waist, he felt his body working against him. He was exhausted and he ached all over, especially his back. He went to the mirror, turned around, and saw a large dark purple bruise splashed down the middle of his upper back. Peter figured it was the result of Loki's heavy boot planted on his back during their scuffle.

He went into his room and got out a bottle of asprin from his drawer. He popped four of them in his mouth and swallowed them as he went to get a fresh pair of clothes to put on.

Downtown New York was still reeling from the events of Loki's reappearance, but slowly, things had gotten back on track. The mess on the streets had been about cleaned up and businesses around the area were bustling with even more patrons who were there to see where the fight between Loki and the Avengers had taken place. The large cracks were still splayed in the street where Thor and Loki had fallen and cars were thrown and the large glass building's doors that Loki had thrown Thor through was draped over and in the process of being repaired.

Pictures were taken and tourists were flocking the area. News casts were still displayed over all the TV's in the surrounding businesses, especially a small bar that was busier than usual with the presence of the tourists. The counter was lined up full of people who had been watching the big screen TV plastered behind the bartenders that had commentators discussing whether the Avengers were able to handle the job any longer and that there were fears discussed of a possible repeat of events that occurred two years prior. There were discussions among the patrons as well, some backing the actions of the superhero team and some who were convinced that they had lost it.

Most of the arguments were halted when they noticed a rather strikingly beautiful woman with long golden blond hair and emerald green eyes dressed in black walk into the dimly lit establishment. Within ten seconds, you could hear a pen drop when about every male in the place had their jaws dropped at the sight and women were having to avert their husbands or boyfriends' eyes as they all gawked. The woman paid no attention, however, as her eyes stayed planted on the TV as the news ran a surveillance video of the incident of Stuttgart, where Loki had dominated over a group of people at a charity event, changing from his formal attire to his leather and metal suit with his horned helmet instantly after killing a man by gouging his eye out. The video also showed when Loki had shot a blast at an approaching German police car, sending it flying and flipping through the air before it came crashing down.

As the cameras showed Loki standing among the people, forced to kneel before him, smiling darkly and arms spread as he softly spoke of humans' "natural" state of being dominated, the woman made her way to the bar where the patrons had quickly moved to allow her access to a stool. She sat down silently as she kept her gaze at the screen. She smiled and her eyes sparkled as Loki's image was displayed, naming him basically the most wanted man in the world at that point.

"You an admirer of his?" a man asked, leaning up against the bar beside her.

The woman's eyes shifted to the direction of the man, but she stared back at the TV a couple seconds later.

"You could say that." she replied.

The man scoffed at this. "What's to admire about him? He tried taking over the planet for God sake and it seems like he's back to do it again."

The woman raised her eyebrow, but didn't look at him.

"So I take it you got a thing for the bad boys?" he asked her, chuckling to his friends behind him.

The woman only smiled. "You have no idea."

The man then looked her over, from her feet up to her long, blond hair. "Well, I can be bad, too, sweetheart." He then rose up a little to take a glance at her slightly open cleavage. "As bad as you want."

The woman turned and stared up at the man. He was good looking, with straight, jet black hair and matching eyes. His build was sturdy and lean and he sported a black leather jacket. She watched him as he pulled a cigarette out and lit it up. "What'd you say I buy you a drink and we go get to know each other better?"

The woman looked him up and down this time and a smile displayed across her striking features. "What'd you say we skip the drink?" she asked, her voice as smooth as silk that made the cigarette the man was dangling from his lips almost fall out.

The man gazed upon her, his eyes glazed with desire as he eagerly nodded at her. "Ok."

The woman smiled as she calmly walked ahead of him, gesturing for him to follow as they made their way toward the back of the bar. People were gawking and a few even giving the man a thumbs up as they passed. The woman led him into a dark, secluded area and without a word, she pulled the cigarette from his lips, placed it on the edge of the table, pressed him up against the wall and kissed him full on the mouth, her hands running up and down his chest. As his hand came up to touch her breasts, she firmly slapped it away. The man broke the kiss. "A little late to be playing hard to get, don't you think?"

"Oh I'm not playing." the woman coolly retorted and before the man could speak again, she resumed the kiss, only this time, she raised her hand up and with a soft green glow coming from her fingertips, she ran it down the sides of his face and in an instant, the man began choking.

The woman stepped back calmly as the man's face began to turn blue and then pale white as he looked at the smirking woman with wide eyes. She watched as he stood, literally frozen because he physically couldn't move, his face becoming more and more white before he went silent, and then slumped to the floor, dead.

The woman smiled and turned around, picked up the still-lit cigarette and knelt down next to the man's body. "Here, you don't want to forget this." she said and with that, she pressed it against the man's forehead, watching it burn into his skin until it stuck.

She smiled again, running her hand along the side of his face and then stood up and with a flip of her hair, she walked out and back into the crowded area of the bar. As she made her way to the door, she stopped when the TV had ran Loki's picture once again as the reporter warned the public that the suspect was armed and completely dangerous and should anyone see him, they are urged to contact authorities immediately.

The woman paid no mind to what the reporter was saying, only the frozen still of the man she once knew.

"I'm coming, darling."

**A/N-I'm sorry for the awfully short chapter this time, but I felt I should get something out to you guys before I had to be off to work once again, (working two jobs sucks) considering how I left the last chapter. I promise to get a better one out to you guys as soon as possible. Again, I apologize. But as usual, thanks again to all my lovely readers. **

**Coming up next chapter: Steve comes to terms with his emotions and makes a long awaited phone call, the team must pick up the pieces and work together to find Loki, who is visited by a woman from his past. **

**Stay tuned. **


	12. Chapter 12

The Amazing Avenger.

**A/N-OMG to all my readers if you are still with me, even new ones, which I have had the pleasure of seeing in my inbox since I have returned home, I AM SOOOOOO dreadfully sorry for abandoning you! I cannot explain why without a long story, but I will say it couldn't be helped. I had to leave state for awhile. But now I am back and I intend on finishing this story. Thank you to everyone that is still with me and also thank you to all my new ones as well. Now, where were we…****J**

**This chapter will be small, but I am just getting the ball rolling again now. The next one will be a longer one, I promise. J**

**(So as you all have already noticed, I have brought in a new character from the comics, and I have decided to make her association with Thor and Loki different for my story. So to all who know the character, I am sorry in advance if I offend anyone, but as Loki would say, "It's my story, I do what I want." ;) But seriously, if you don't like, don't read. Please, no flames. It's all fan fiction.)**

_Recap: Peter wakes up on the roof where he and Loki fought; A mysterious woman with peculiar powers makes an appearance and seems very interested in Loki. Now on to Chapter 12._

Chapter 12.

The conference room at Stark tower was quiet as the Avengers assembled for the meeting Fury had called. Clint and Natasha arrived first, Natasha nodding to Coulson, who sat at the table with a solemn look on his face, but politely nodded back. The past two days have been troubling for him to say the least. Not only with the fallout between Steve and Tony and Steve leaving, but with his 'killer' returning as well. Although he kept busy ordering various agents around, inside, he felt sick to his stomach. Whether it was anger or fear, or both, he didn't know. For all the years he has devoted his life to SHIELD, he has faced various bad guys, even some who came a just a hair close to killing him many times, but Loki was different. Loki _had_ killed him. He could still see the twisted satisfaction in the god's eyes as he looked down on his dying body, a smirk on his thin lips. But Coulson knew he had to remain straight. So many things were already off balance within the team and they were already on shaky ground, but most of all, his mind was on Steve. He and SHEILD have been searching for him for two days and nothing. Coulson wished he knew where he was, not to just talk him into coming back because although Steve had some personal demons to battle, he belonged here with his team. They needed him. But mostly, Coulson just wanted to know if he was alright.

Bruce arrived a few minutes later, looking as if he hadn't slept a wink since this whole thing started. He nodded to everyone and sat silently. Tony walked in after, he too, looking unkempt and pale. He had a pair of sunglasses on, but everyone could still see much of the hideous dark purple bruise that outlined his upper right cheek. Bruce glared up at him, but said nothing and Clint and Natasha just looked down at the table while Coulson looked up at him, his expression impassive. Tony sat down at a chair farthest away from everyone else, slumped down almost instantly.

Peter came down and stopped by the door. His body hurt and he was extremely worn out, but he straightened up as he exhaled. Here goes nothing. Peter walked into the room and within ten seconds, everyone did a double take simultaneously as they saw the bruise that was splayed on his left eye. The look on Natasha's face was incredulous and Bruce shot up, his face full of questions, but mostly he was concerned for Peter. Clint and Coulson looked at each other confused and even Tony took off his sunglasses and asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"What in the hell happened to you?"

Peter swallowed. "It's nothing."

Bruce walked over to Peter and took a closer look. "That's gonna be one hell of a black eye."

"It doesn't hurt." Peter protested, waving away Bruce's hand.

"What happened?" Coulson asked as he came to stand next to Bruce.

Peter looked at him and took a few moments to mentally rehearse the story he had concocted in his head upstairs.

He chuckled. "It was stupid. I spent the night at my aunt's house last night and I had tripped over my skateboard and landed face-first into my closet door." He shook his head and pretended to laugh at himself. The looks on everyone's faces were scrunched and he could tell they were trying to decide if they believed him or not. It was a good thing Peter had decided on a turtleneck underneath his T-shirt to hide the abrasion on his neck. That one would've been harder to explain.

"I'm more embarrassed really." Peter said in a reassuring tone.

"Jesus kid…your shiner almost puts mine to shame." Tony quipped.

"Do you feel ok?" Bruce asked.

Peter shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I feel fine."

Coulson nodded. "Just be more careful, kid. We don't want everyone around here getting themselves knocked around." and with that, he shot a look at Tony's direction, who in turn, rolled his eyes and slumped down in his chair again.

Bruce looked at Peter for a moment. "You sure you're ok?"

"Yeah man, I'm good. Really." Peter nodded.

"Well, I want to take a better look at that when we're done here." he told him.

"Alright." Peter nodded quietly.

Bruce sighed and went back to sit down. Peter let out a breath and sat down, slowly sitting back as his back hurt and tried not to wince. He caught Natasha's gaze that was staring at him intently, but Peter pretended not to notice.

Just then, they all heard Fury's rant down the hall. "You tell her I don't care if she is busy, she better have her ass down here by this afternoon!"

Clint looked at Coulson, who sighed. "Maria's been refusing to cooperate with us."

Clint just nodded and rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Fury as he walked in, his stride a bit rough and a stressed look on his face.

Fury walked to the far end of the table where Coulson, who stood, was, but as he turned, he did a double take in Peter's direction. Peter smiled weakly, but piped, "It was an accident, sir."

Fury just sighed heavily and gave Coulson his 'Do I even want to know?" face and Coulson just shook his head.

Fury nodded and then went straight to business. "I'm not gonna begin to tell any of you just how much crap I have just had to take from my superiors over just what the hell has gone on here in the last two days!" he boomed, staring intently at everyone who was in the room, but mainly parking his angry gaze at Tony, who was still in his slumped position with his sunglasses on.

"I don't care just what any of you have to say. My primary concern right now is finding Loki before he causes any more damage. That will be your job _lady_ (looking at Natasha) and gentlemen (looking at the rest of them)."

Suddenly, Fury's phone goes off. He lets out an exasperated sigh and flips it open, turning his back to the rest of them. The look he then displays to Coulson tells the ones who can still see him that the call wasn't good. The one good eye that Fury had opened and turned cold.

With that, Fury motioned for Coulson to follow him and the two hastily exited the room, leaving everyone to stare at each other in confusion, even Tony even took off his sunglasses and was staring at the door.

"That didn't look very good." Bruce said meekly.

Clint and Natasha glanced at each other. "It never is." Clint muttered.

"Well, maybe we should go find out what happened." Peter offered, hating to just sit helpless, adrenaline now pumping into his tired and beaten body.

"I agree." Natasha replied, already getting up and heading for the door, but then Coulson came in with a controlled, but a slightly pale look on his face.

"There's been a murder in a bar downtown."

"So what?" Clint said.

"Doesn't look like it was done by…us."

Steve had been walking for what seemed like forever. He had found himself in Rhode Island, with a purpose, but for some reason, too afraid to follow through.

Now sitting in a small coffee shop nursing a cup of black coffee, he stared blankly at the file sitting in front of him. It had belonged to SHIELD, but Steve had never returned it. He had practically memorized it's entire contents, but he found himself reading it again, as if it contained new information suddenly.

Steve couldn't make out why he was so afraid, and it was bothering him bad. He had felt like he always did before the experiment. Small, defenseless, and alone. As much as Stark had angered him and the punch he had thrown him was a long time coming, a part of him had really considered since then that Stark had been right. He was a coward.

"Can I get you anything else, sir?" A waitress appeared, waking Steve from his thoughts.

"Uh, no maam. Thank you." he replied politely as he closed the file and reached into his pockets and slapped a few bills on the table. Just then, his attention was turned to the commotion going on at the table in front of him.

"This conversation is over. I'm leaving." A woman had stated and she got up to leave, but the man sitting across from her had grabbed her arm.

"I'm not done talking to you yet!" The man's voice spewed.

"You're drunk David-again!" the woman retorted, pulling her arm away. "I hate it when you act like this!"

"Amy, please don't go." David's voice was pleading this time, but how his words slurred, he appeared to be very intoxicated indeed.

Amy looked around, her eyes apologetic to the other customers. "I can't do this anymore." she said, and she had tears welling in her eyes.

She then turned to leave, but David stumbled to his feet and went to grab her again, but Steve's hand grabbed his shoulder. The grip was strong and seemed to startle the man so much, he jumped a little as he whipped around and stared angrily at him.

"Who the hell are you?" the man roared and Amy had come around and tried to tame down the situation, afraid of what David was going to do.

"It-It's ok." she told Steve, but Steve was unconvinced. He could see the fear in her eyes, but she was quietly pleading with David to calm down and trying to lead him away, but David pushed her out of the way with a force that sent her landing hard against the counter.

Steve moved to go to her aid, but was stopped when David slapped a hard hand to his chest. He locked his eyes to the bloodshot ones staring back at him. The man was taller than him by a couple inches. "I'm gonna ask you one more time, who the hell are you?"

Steve stared down at the hand on his chest and then back up at the drunken man's face. "Son, I suggest you take your hand off me, leave the lady alone, and go take a walk." His voice was calm, but Steve could feel the familiar heat boiling up within him.

David gave him a look like he had grown another head. "Are you freaking kidding me, asshole?" He chuckled a bit, but Steve kept his stance and his dead stare.

The guy then took his hand away and held up a mock defense stance. "I guess not. Well, fine. I'll leave then." He turned halfway mid-sentence, but then, moved quickly to turn and take a swing at Steve.

Amy screamed, but Steve ducked and caught David's other fist mid-air with so much force that you literally heard it crack under the hold. David cried out in pain and Steve grabbed his shirt with his other hand and slammed him onto an unoccupied table. Keeping his hold on David's fist and his shirt, Steve looked dead into the man's painfully contorted face.

Looking him straight in the eyes, he stated, "Like I said before, you leave the lady alone and go for a walk. Right now, it's pretty obvious she wants nothing to do with you. So you take that and never bother her again. If you come near her or here ever again, I will find out, and I will come looking for you."

Then with more force, he tightened his grip, causing David to just about scream in anguish. Trickles of blood slowly ran down the man's arm from under Steve's hand. "You want to know who I am? You really want to know? Then go and do what I told you not to do and believe me, you'll find out."

Then something happened.

By the time Steve had finished his sentence, he saw that he was no longer looking at David, a drunken man with rage issues, but rather at Tony Stark. The way he looked when Steve had lost control and sent him flying across the room with just one swing of his fist.

Steve blinked, as if coming out of a trance. His eyes went from the anguished and fearful look on the man's face to his now broken hand underneath his tightened grip. He then heard Amy's sobbing voice behind him.

"Please. Please let him go. You're hurting him."

Steve immediately let go and backed away as Amy rushed to David's side. Steve was oblivious to anyone's looks because all he could look at were his hands.

"I-I'm sorry." he stammered, then turned and grabbed his jacket and made a mad dash out of the diner and ran down the street.


End file.
